A baby at Camelot
by Lolryne
Summary: It all began the day the prince suddenly disappeared. Or no : It all began the day Merlin came back at Camelot holding a baby.
1. The prince's disappearance

**Disclaimer**: I own nothing, the whole Merlin's world belongs to the BBC. At least this version ;)

**Note: **Alright, for this one I don't exactly know what happened. I was drawing in the subway and then, the idea of this fic came to me. So I had to do it, right? This story is mostly for fun, and the BBC's writers would probably like to have my head if they knew about the crap I'm doing with their awesome serie =X

Anyway, once again thank you _so much_ to Archaeologist_d for her help with the beta! I don't know what I would do without her!

If you are interested, I also up a drawing about this fic in my LJ, you can find the link at my profile.

**#01 The prince's disappearance.**

**.**

It had been a while now since Gaius saw Merlin as his own son. He had not brought up the boy, but sometimes he wish he had.

Gaius had never known the pleasure of being a real father, to hold a baby against his chest, to make a young child smile with grins and tickles. And if, in his whole long life, he never really missed the presence of a woman, he missed a child's. It had been something he had wished for deeply during all his life. More than to become the court physician, more than to become the King's closest friend, more than to become a free man of Camelot, he wished he had been a father.

But he never had, until Merlin. And even if it wasn't his own blood in the young warlock's veins, he loved him in a way only parents could. He loved him more than any living soul in Camelot and more, and his safety was more important for him that any other's, including himself. He would have given anything for the boy.

But with all this love, he sometimes just couldn't _believe _how easily and how deeply Merlin managed to get himself into trouble, and how stupidly he could act.

Giving the screaming baby in Merlin's arm another skeptical glance, he asked, "I'm sorry, Merlin, can you explain it to me one more time?"

**oOoOo**

Leon was worried. He was too well-trained to panic -panic never help- but he couldn't help but feel nauseous. They were looking for the prince for three hours, now, and he was nowhere to be found.

Arthur had left alone in the wood at the beginning of the afternoon, giving orders to not be followed when a few knights had suggested going with him, thinking he was going on a hunt. Obviously it was not why he was leaving. He had acted strangely, Erec had reported, as if he were angry about something**,** as if he were fearing something.

But Arthur feared nothing, he was the bravest man of Camelot, a model for all his knights.

If something had been frightening him, Leon couldn't imagine what it was. He just imagined that it was a really big deal, and hoped his prince was alright. He wished the young prince didn't go looking for trouble alone. Surely he would have told someone if he knew something was going to happen. He would have told his father, his knights...

Leon gave his horse another slight kick to hurry him along. The sky was already starting to get dark by now, and they all knew that the search would be more difficult if they didn't find him before nightfall. The darkness and the humidity would hide a lot of tracks that could have helped them.

"Here!" a soldier's voice hissed, and Leon's heart bound with strength. I found something!

**oOoOo**

Merlin bit his lips while trying to hold the little boy better.

"Well, I was kind of... training. In the woods, you know, so nobody can see me."

Gaius said nothing. He didn't have to, they already talked about that. Merlin perfectly knew that training in the woods was not a good idea, that it was very possible that somebody could actually see him.

It had happened already, and they had been lucky that it ended well.

"I was trying some new spells of my own, actually," Merlin continued, looking more and more awkward , "to... try new things, just to test what I was able to do."

"I got that. It doesn't explain the boy. _So_?"

**oOoOo**

Leon's heart missed a beat when he saw what the soldier was holding. The prince's coat. On the ground were Arthur's clothes: his chain mail, his trousers, even his sword had been abandoned. Wherever the prince was at this very moment, he was naked and defenseless.

There were footsteps on the earth, but it was hard to see now that the sky was dark.

"Someone light a torch", Leon ordered, and a soldier soon came close to him, the torch lighting up the spot.

Obviously they had been two men there. The prince, and another one. What was strange was that the two footsteps met at the very same spot then one disappeared, and the other one went away. It was as if the prince had just vanished.

**oOoOo**

"Arthur, well... followed me. I don't know why, he - he surprised me!"

"_So_?"

"So I panicked. I wasn't prepared for that, I.. ! I just I don't even know what I did!"

Gaius looked at Merlin, then back at the little child he was holding.

"So this little boy...?"

"Is Arthur. Yeah."

**oOoOo**

"Leon? Did you find something?"

Erec came closer to the knight, but froze in place the moment he saw Arthur's clothes on the ground.

"What is that...?" he asked, even though he perfectly knew the answer. "Is it...?"

"Yeah," began Leon.

**oOoOo**

"_You turn the Crown Prince of Camelot into a baby?_" finally hissed Gaius, his voice mostly covered by the said baby's screams.

Merlin took a deep breath, opened his mouth in what seemed to be an attempt to find something to say, but give up at the look of the physician. He bit his lip again, glared a moment at the baby, and then tried with an awkward grimace.

"Well... I didn't do it on purpose..."

**oOoOo**

"The prince has been kidnapped", finished the knight. "But there is no trace of combat."

"Which means he was taken by surprise. He might have been knocked unconscious." Erec said, pale with indignation. "We will have to report to the King immediately."

Leon nodded. There was no time to waste. "See if we can find anything else which can help. I'm taking his clothes with me, we can't leave them here."

Erec moved away. He took the torch from the soldier and lit the ground around him, looking for some other indications. There must been something else_,_ a sign to help them to understand what had happened. If someone had kidnapped the prince, he might have used a horse to carry him. Arthur was a healthy man, he was not easy to carry. But there was no sign that a horse had been there.

The knight kept as calm as possible. _Do not panic_, a low voice sounding like the prince's repeated in his head; _Whatever happens, never panic._

He just had to search. Whoever had kidnapped the prince, he was not good at hiding signs. He followed the footsteps. The man had been running. How did he run, carrying the prince? The footstep weren't that big, nor had they sunk that much into the wet ground. Considering that he was following a man strong and heavy enough to carry the prince, plus the weight of the prince himself, the prints should have been more obvious. It just wasn't normal.

Erec stopped as soon as the mark disappeared. A horse had been there, the man might have ridden it. And it was going in the direction of...

Erec lifted his head to look, then remained astonished.

"I found something" Leon's voice hissed behind him.

"What?" Erec asked without looking at the other knight.

"A basket, far from the scene. It had been abandoned, but it was still full of mushrooms, I think we've got a witness. What about you?"

Erec turned his head to see Leon coming toward him.

"I found a trace of the horse the man used."

"So?"

"So whoever he is, he's gone in the direction of Camelot. We have to return to the castle at once!" Erec said, turning on his heels to go back to his own horse.

Leon stared with disbelief at the castle, far away from where they were, but visible over the top of the trees.

**oOoOo**

"You," Gaius said, pointing his finger at Merlin's nose, "are in deep trouble."


	2. Angry, babe is angry

**Disclaimer**: I own nothing, sadly, as all of us~ All belong to the BBC

**Note**: And here we go with the second chapter! I hope you will like it! =) This chapter have been beta by the amazing **phys_nut**, without who I would just have to hide myself, because this chapter would have been a mess /o/ Thank you very much And thanxs for all the nice reviews you left me! =)

Here we go now, let's focus on the baby ;D

* * *

**#02 - Angry, babe is angry**

The moment Merlin had bewitched Arthur, he hadn't really realized it. _Bandits_, had been the first thing he had thought, s_pell_, the second, and _Oh dear God_, the third. The whole thing might have taken only three seconds, and Arthur had just the time to give him a chocking look before he transformed.

He didn't have the time to try to find a solution with Gaius yet, as a soldier had knocked at the door, leaving him just enough time to hide in his room with Arthur. From what he had heard though the door, Gaius' presence had been asked for by the King for who-knew-what-again. So for now it was just Arthur and himself, and he was desperately trying to comfort him, to make him _stop_ screaming. Ha had had to put a silencing spell at Gaius' chamber, without what the whole castle would have knew about the baby's presence.

"Shhhh!" he tried again, patting the baby's back clumsily "Shhh, Arthur! That's okay, that's okay! Calm down, I'm here! Everything's okay! "

But Arthur did not calm down at all. He was screaming with all his might, pulling Merlin's hair, beating his face with all the strength of his little fists. It really hurt and Merlin was quite sure he would have bruises, but he didn't dare release him, just avoided the blows as well as he could. Arthur was either furious, or really scared. Probably both. Merlin _really_ hoped that Gaius would be back soon, because he didn't know at all how to handle the situation right now.

Looking around himself hopefully, as if anything in his room might be able to help him, he finally put Arthur on his bed and tried to find something to dress the baby in. He couldn't leave him naked, he at least had to cover him with... with... _what was he supposed to use to dress a baby_? He had nothing! Maybe his neckerchief...? But he didn't want his neckerchief to be used as a nappy.

"Woah!" Merlin exclaimed suddenly as Arthur merely fell on the ground.

He picked him up soon enough but Arthur re-started screaming immediately. Alright, he_ owed him_ a neckerchief, right now there was no time to waste. Merlin put Arthur further up on the bed again and quickly removed his scarf. He spread it out and grab Arthur's waist, lifting him up. He glanced at the cloth, then at Arthur -who was struggling furiously-, then back at the cloth.

_Okay_, he thought, trying to keep a clear mind despite the fact that the baby's screams were killing him and that Arthur was obviously trying to break one of his finger between his little fists. _Okay, a nappy, sure. So..._

**oOoOo**

The soldier opened the door to allow the old physician to go in. Gaius frowned as soon as he saw the men reunited in the room. Usually, when Uther asked for him, it was for private conversations. This time, however, five knights were standing in front of the King. They all turned their heads towards him as he came closer. Leon gave him a slight bow, and then turned back to the King.

Gaius said nothing. He didn't dare think all of this was about Arthur yet. Whatever the problem was, he hoped it was another one. After all, the incident had just been this afternoon, the prince could perfectly well still been on a hunt. It was too soon yet to worry.

"Arthur has disappeared." Uther said, his fist tightening on the armrest of his throne.

Of course. Gaius restrained himself from pinching his lips together. Instead, he asked calmly.

"I'm sorry, Sire, I don't understand..."

"There is no trace of him." Uther explained "Sir Leon thinks he might have been kidnapped."

"I saw the prince this afternoon." Gaius replied, trying to come up with an excuse "Maybe he is just on a creature's trail. Arthur sometimes goes and comes back late, it wouldn't be the first time..."

"We found his clothes!" Leon suddenly said. His face was as tense as the King and he was holding Arthur's coat tightly in his hand. "Nothing had been left with him."

"The prince is alone with his aggressor, Sire." Erec said in a low voice, as if he was scared about what he was about to say "He is alone, defenseless, and naked. I don't dare to think about what he might been facing at this very moment we are talking together."

**oOoOo**

"Arthur for God's sake can't you just _please_ _stop moving for one moment_?" Merlin hissed through his teeth, leaning toward the furious baby, as the bow he was trying to do came undone for the fourth time.

**oOoOo**

"You mean...?" Uther began, white as a sheet. "No... No."

"I think you might be a little fast. The aggressor we are talking about might also have been an innocent woman" Gaius found good to suggest. "Arthur might have been... well, in charming company. Maybe we are jumping to conclusions, and the Prince is in a very uncomfortable situation now that you brought his clothes back with you."

"He wouldn't have left his sword out of sight." Leon said, sure of what he was saying. A sword was as precious as an arm or a leg to a knight. "And we found some obvious pieces of evidence that he has been captured!"

"Which are...?"

"There were tracks! The prince disappeared, or he had been lifted from the ground by his opponent. But Sire, the prince is a very strong man and we fear that... his opponent might have used a disloyal way to attack him. The ground was not disturbed at all, meaning there had been no fight, and his opponent had been alone too. He might have been caught by surprise."

"With magic." Uther finished. "You think that we are looking for a sorcerer?"

"I fear it, My Lord. We can't be sure, but they are the only ones who would want to harm your son and be powerful enough to be actually able to do it. If no one asks for a ransom... then we have to be prepared for the worst. Hopefully there might be a witness, and we think that the aggressor came back toward Camelot."

**oOoOo**

Merlin finally lifted his head, looking at his work with half-pride and half-skepticism. He had made a few bows with his neckerchief around Arthur's body, and if the result wasn't gorgeous, it seemed to hold the baby well enough.

"_Please_ don't do anything in my neckerchief before I find you something else" he said to Arthur as he finally released him.

Having been immobilized by Merlin didn't seem to have been helpful in calming Arthur though, and he was yelling in a keener voice than Merlin would have suspected him capable of. His eyes were wet and his face red with fury, and he had tried to hit Merlin's nose violently with his feet each time the manservant had came too close of him. He turned on his stomach as soon as Merlin released his grip and slid off the bed. Merlin let him go, making sure he didn't fell too hard on the ground. If the baby's big eyes could have killed, Merlin was quite sure he would be dead on the spot. Instead of that, Arthur removed himself from the helpful hands and tried his best to walk towards the closed door. He was swaying, though, and he quickly fell, sitting on the floor. He stood up, stubborn, and walk six feet long before he fell again.

"Arthur, come back here" Merlin sighed.

The baby-prince turned his eyes to Merlin. The warlock stood up, coming toward Arthur to hold him again. Leaving his pride aside, Arthur did not try to walk properly once more. Instead, He ran four-footed between the servant's legs and went hide himself under the bed.

Merlin knelt on the ground and lowered his head so he could see under the bed. Arthur had taken refuge against the wall, as far away as possible from him, and was still staring at him with a deadly look. Merlin sighed, and waited a little for the prince to calm down. Arthur seemed to be on the edge of jumping away as soon as Merlin would make a move toward him.

"Look, Arthur, I'm _sorry_ I turned you into a baby, I truly am." Merlin finally said. "I'll fix it, but for that I need for you to come out of there, okay?"

Arthur didn't make a move.

"You're not hungry?" Merlin asked again, trying to make his voice and his face prepossessing "I'll give you something to eat! I can find you some milk, or some puree. Come on!"

Arthur kept staring at him, pouting. Merlin knew that, had Arthur been twenty years older, his expression would have been enough to make him feel like the most disgusting man in the world. But on his baby face, it was less impressive. And kind of cute. His yelling, though, wasn't cute at all. Enough was enough, he had to stop this mess before it started to become became too serious. He had to find a spell in Gaius's books, the sooner the better.

Lifting his bed with his magic, he grabbed Arthur quickly and lifted him, ignoring his screams and the kicks he was giving him in the chest. However, he yelled with pain and surprise the moment Arthur grabbed his mouth and twisted it furiously.

**oOoOo**

Gaius looked both at the King and at his knights. He was doing his best to keep a straight face, but the situation was very bad. He had felt his blood turn cold as the knight had informed them about the witness's possibility. If someone had seen the scene, then Merlin was a dead man.

Uther rose from his chair, his whole body tensed, as if he couldn't keep seated any longer.

"What do we know about this witness?"

"No much yet. But we could find him, I'm sure of that."

"I want our soldiers to visit all the villages around the forest and search for the witness. I'll give a reward to anyone who will help us to find my son. I also want you to search every house in Camelot and around, every hut, every cavern in the forest, everywhere Arthur might been retained. Is that understood?"

"Yes, Sire!" the five knights exclaimed together.

They bowed and left the council room. Gaius and Uther stayed alone.

"I fear for my son, Gaius" Uther finally confessed in a whisper, his fist clenched in front of his mouth.

"Yes, Sire." Gaius managed to say back. "I know the feeling."

Uther nodded, and Gaius bowed before leaving.

What should he do? What had he to do? If they didn't find a solution quickly, Merlin would be in great danger. If someone had seen him bewitch the prince and reported it to the King, he wouldn't even been killed at the spot, he would be tortured until he _begged_ for death.

He went back to his chamber quickly. Crossing the silent and desert court, he ascended the stairs and opened his chamber's door. A keen cry immediately replaced the silence in the corridor. Gaius thrilled in surprise and quickly came in, closing the door behind him.

"Oh thanks God, Gaius, you're back!" Merlin said forthwith, almost running toward him.

His face and his neck was bruised, his lips split, slightly bleeding, even his hair were a mess. He was holding Arthur under his arm, in a very, very _unusual_ manner to hold a baby.

"What happened here? I can't leave you with a baby without you hurting yourself?"

"_I -_ didn't hurt myself!" Merlin protested immediately, pointing a finger at Arthur "_He_ hurt me! He has been trying to _kill me_ since you left!"

"Give him to me, you can't hold him that way!" Gaius said frowning, not paying attention to Merlin's complains.

"He hit me _on the throat_ just before you came in! I think I was about to die by suffocation! Seriously, did you know that Arthur _actually_ had been trained to kill since birth? Because I seriously though it was a joke when he told me!"

"You're talking nonsense" Gaius sighed as he brought back Arthur against his chest. The baby progressively stopped screaming and calmed down. "See?"

Merlin looked scandalized. "That" he said "_That_, is unfair."

"It is perfectly fair, you were holding him like a bag! And we do not have any time for this, anyway!" he cut as Merlin seemed to be on the edge of protesting again. "I will take care of him tonight, you, you have to find a solution, and find it quickly!"

"Alright" Merlin admitted. "But please find him something to wear because..."

"Oh my, you're right! He's wet! Come on Sire, I'll find you something."

Gaius passed by Merlin and began looking for anything to dress the royal baby in. Merlin pinched his lips and decided it was better to say nothing. He grabbed his spell book and sat, beginning to look for the spell that would save him.

"Isn't that your neckerchief?" Gaius's voice asked behind him.

"Yes" Merlin replied, trying not to think about it.

"Oh. Do you want me to wash it, or...?"

"Burn it, Gaius, please. I won't wear nappies, even royals ones."

* * *

**PREVIEW **: **#03 – You don't need to be a child to be immature.**

"Merlin?! What's going on, where's Arthur? Everything's alright?" Gauis was shouting through the door.

"He's with me!" Merlin replied, "He's fine; he just tried to _break my nose_. Nothing to worry about."

"Ah." Gaius sighed in relief, and Merlin's mouth opened with indignation.


	3. Don't need to be a child to be immature

**Disclaimer**: I own nothing, and maybe that's better :D

**Notes**: Okay so it took me a while to write this one, but it is longer than the chapters before ;) I hope you will have as much fun reading it than I had while writing it!! Thank you so much at these you left me so nice comments :DDD

**A baby at Camelot**

**#03 – You don't need to be a child to be immature.**

Arthur woke twice in the night. As they didn't have anything like a bed appropriate for a baby, Gaius had given him his own; there were not many options anyway. And as they were looking for a solution to Arthur's transformation in the spells book, Merlin noticed that Gaius had often been looking at the baby, just to check that everything was fine. Both times Arthur had woken, he had begun mumbling before crying. The second time, Gaius gave him a bit of soup and water and rocked him until he fell asleep again.

Merlin felt a bit jealous while watching them. Of Arthur, at first, because he knew Gaius was discovering different aspects of what a son and father bond might be, and that it wasn't with him. And of Gaius, then, because he wished Arthur wouldn't have reacted so differently between them both. He couldn't figure out Arthur's reaction, but he wasn't stupid enough to not understand that the prince didn't like him at all. The idea made him sad, and feeling stupid. It wasn't important. What was important was to find a solution.

But the more Merlin read, the more he worried. Because there was nothing about breaking a curse like the one he had made. There was even nothing about the curse itself. He was supposed to be the expert; he should have known what was to do, or at least what he had done! But he had been an idiot, trying to perform spells which he didn't know, just to test. He wished Arthur hadn't followed him. Why did he have to, anyway?

"Did you find something?" Gaius asked in a low voice, coming back close to him.

Merlin rubbed his eyelids. He only had one candle to light the book, and his eyes were beginning to hurt. "No," he whispered.

Gaius said nothing. He sat near Merlin, looking a moment at the open book, as if he couldn't believe it had failed them.

"There is nothing. I don't get it; the closest I've found is about how to give animals a human appearance, and it seems that they keep acting like animals. I..." he said, putting his head in his hands for a moment and then looking up again "There's nothing."

Gaius didn't answer. They kept quiet a long moment, stuck in their thoughts, trying to think of what they should do now.

"I.. I'm going to walk a while," Merlin finally said before he stood up. "You should get some rest."

"Where are you going?" Gaius asked, finally looking at him as Merlin headed for the door.

"Outside. I won't be long."

Merlin went out and closed the door behind him. He quickly crossed the deserted courtyard, almost running. The sky was deep black by now, and only the moon was lighting the castle. Merlin didn't hesitate one second; he knew his way. If Gaius's books couldn't help him, then his last chance was the Great Dragon. Despite what Uther had done to him, he always had given Merlin advice to protect Arthur. He would help him, surely.

"Dragon!" Merlin called, as soon as he arrived in the huge cavern under the castle.

The Dragon was asleep, but not deeply. He slowly lifted his head and stared at Merlin.

"What is it, young warlock?" he asked.

"I need your help."

"For that I could have guessed. You always need help." the Dragon pointed out, annoyed. "Maybe you should try to find solutions by yourself?"

"I searched already!" Merlin replied. "But there is nothing!"

"Then you didn't search hard enough." the Dragon said before curling into a huge ball again, closing his eyes.

"Please, it is really important! I don't have much time. Arthur..." he hesitated, but the Dragon didn't open his eyes. "I turned Arthur into a baby. I don't know how I did it. I didn't even know that I could do it. I need to turn him back into himself. Camelot needs its prince."

The Dragon didn't move. "The prince," he finally replied after a short silence, "is still at Camelot."

"But it is not truly _him_! He's a baby!"

"He's Arthur."

"He's Arthur, one year old! How is he supposed to lead his knights now? How would he command Camelot when he don't know how to talk?"

"What you don't understand yet, young warlock," the Dragon sighed, opening his eyes to look at him again, "is that your powers, how strong they might be, are not enough to change Arthur's destiny. Time doesn't matter nor appearances."

"Maybe time doesn't matter to you, but in a human life, twenty years are quite a big deal." Merlin heard himself reply. He couldn't help being sarcastic; the Dragon was too nonchalant about it. "And how people will react when they know that the Kingdom's heir has been turned into a babe? Uther won't live enough for Arthur to be prepared again to take the crown!"

"People won't know, because you won't tell anyone. As long as Uther is the King, magic will be seen as evil by the people of Camelot. Only you can change that."

"I can't. It is Arthur, the future King, not me."

"Your role is to help Arthur to understand that magic isn't evil."

"Well, turning him into a babe wasn't the best way to introduce the idea, was it? He has no opinion of that yet, he's _one year old_!"

He kept still one moment, staring at the Dragon, but he received no reply. Then he began to understand.

"You want me to raise him with the idea that magic is a good thing, then make him come back to take the throne when he's ready?" He let escape a weak laugh. "Is that the way Arthur is supposed to understand that magic isn't evil?"

He didn't like the idea. He knew it would be an effective way to make the prince support magic; he knew that this way Arthur would be exactly as he wanted him to be, but yet he didn't like the idea. Because that would not mean that Arthur would have changed his mind, or that he would have made his own choice to trust him. It would just be an easy way to manipulate him, to put him ideas into his brain at a young age, just as his father had done.

The Dragon kept staring at him, looking annoyed as if Merlin were asking some stupid questions.

"I already told you all you have to know. I can do nothing more for you."

"I need to turn him back into an adult. You must know how to do that!"

"You're the one who bewitched him, young warlock, and only you will be able to act against your own curse."

"But I don't know how I'm supposed to do that! It will take _ages_ before I find out something!"

"Time doesn't matter." the Dragon said again before yawning. Then he closed his heavy eyelids and went back to sleep.

Merlin couldn't believe it. Arthur just lost twenty years of his life and that was it. The Dragon didn't look alarmed at all, just as if it were a casual thing. Merlin felt his frustration grow a little more. Everything was going wrong: the curse, Arthur's reaction, the useless book, the useless _Dragon_. Merlin felt stuck. But it was fine, _he would find a way_, since the Dragon said so. No need to worry.

"Alright!" he said. "Alright! Thank you for your help!"

The Dragon didn't replied, and Merlin turned on his heels, going back to Gaius's chambers without looking behind him.

The room was silent when he came in. Gaius had left the candle on the table so even if the place were dark, he was still able to see where he was going. He took the candle and turned his head toward Gaius, who had finally gone to bed. He was lying in what seemed to be a very uncomfortable position, surely not to disturb Arthur who was almost in the middle of the mattress, his arms wild open. Merlin was almost sure the prince was taking the most space he was capable of on purpose. He sighed and went toward them.

"Gaius...?" he whispered.

But the physician did not wake up. They had been awake until very late, and Merlin knew that Gaius wasn't used to that. He left the candle on the floor and carefully took Arthur. He lifted him up very slowly and put him against his chest, making sure not to wake him up. He didn't want the prince to open his eyes suddenly and break his nose by surprise, or anything like that. He put the cover back on Gaius with his free hand, making sure he was more comfortable now. He smiled slightly and put his other hand on Arthur's back, caressing it softly to help him stay asleep. Arthur moved a bit and Merlin stopped himself, wishing he was in a more comfortable position for the baby.

_Keep sleeping, please keep sleeping_, he thought.

Merlin stayed perfectly still a whole minute, before he felt Arthur's body totally relax against him again. He sighed in relief, closing his eyes briefly. He had had enough for the day, now he just wanted to go to sleep himself.

He came back at his room and sat on the mattress, his hand behind Arthur's head. Somehow, he managed to get off his shoes, only using his feet, and laid down slowly with Arthur on him. He waited a while without making another move, but Arthur stayed asleep. Mumbling, the baby put his thumb in his mouth and breathed more deeply. Merlin grabbed the cover and pulled it back on them both.

It was very strange. Arthur did not look like the little fury he had been some hours ago; he looked peaceful, as if everything in the world were okay. It was weird to think that this baby, this little child looking so fragile was actually the man he used to serve. And that, looking fragile or not, he was somehow able to kick _very_ hard.

Merlin caressed Arthur's back, his other hand holding him. It was very strange, but at this moment, it seemed alright. He was going to take care of Arthur, whatever might happen. It was his destiny, after all.

**oOoOo**

What woke Merlin the next morning was a very unexpected and very strong blow in his nose. He opened his eyes immediately, sitting up with a yell and putting one of his hand to his face. If he was still confused, a sharp and short scream took care of reminding him where the blow could have come from. Stuck between him and the wall, Arthur was perfectly awake and jumped on Merlin's arm to bite him as soon as the manservant turned his head toward him.

"AOUTCH! Arthur, _don't do that_! What's WRONG with you?!" Merlin exclaimed as he managed to extricate his arm from the baby's mouth. Arthur started screaming again immediately, and Merlin asked himself if the biting wasn't better after all.

"Merlin?! What's going on, where's Arthur? Everything's alright?" Gauis was shouting through the door.

"He's with me!" Merlin replied, "He's fine; he just tried to _break my nose_. Nothing to worry about."

"Ah." Gaius sighed in relief, and Merlin's mouth opened with indignation.

Arthur fought with the sheets and managed to escape the bed before running four-footed toward the door. Merlin forbade himself from feeling vexed.

"That's it! Go run between Gaius's legs, I don't care!" he shouted at the baby before he disappeared. "Prat."

He got up, feeling perfectly awake now that his nose was hurting him. That was it. If someday Gaius didn't know how to wake him up, he just would have do that, punch him in the face!

Arthur was not a common baby. Despite his lack of experiences with babies, he was pretty sure they were _not_ supposed to act as if others were living punching-balls. Merlin wiped his nose, checking to make sure he wasn't bleeding. He wasn't.

_But still, it hurt__!_

"What time is it?" Gaius asked as Merlin entered the room. "Haven't we been asleep too long?"

"Don't worry, babies wake up early. You may sleep a little more if you wish. I'll take care of Arthur."

"No, no, that's fine..."

Gaius had Arthur in his arms and was now checking to see what they might have for breakfast. They had finished all the soup the day before and there was just some bread left. That's was not much, and it was too hard to let Arthur eat it, anyway.

"What babies are supposed to eat?"

"I supposed that depends how old they are..." Gaius answered. "I mean, how old do you think he is?"

"One year? Between ten and fifteen months, I don't know." Merlin said.

He didn't spend much time with babies, he had to admit. Not that he didn't love them, he did. He even planned on becoming a father himself someday, if his destiny gave him a chance – though it had not really started well.

"You go to the shop and buy something we can give him," Gaius said. "We can't let him starve like that."

"I'll buy him some oatmeal, I guess that would be okay."

"I thought Arthur hated oatmeal?"

_Yeah but he punch__ed me in the face_, Merlin thought. "No, babies eat that, it will be perfect," he said anyway, answering with a polite smile at the baby's deadly look.

Gaius nodded and shoved Arthur toward him.

"Alright, you go to the market with him, and I'll go check to see if the knights are already gone."

"What? With Arthur? But – No. I mean I can't, people are going to see me!"

"Just be discreet, for once. As long as you don't cross anybody you know and that you don't get yourself into trouble, no one would care. And we have no choice, for now."

"But they will notice! He's always screaming when he's near me, I can't hold him without him trying to kick me!"

"Don't be ridiculous -"

"He _hates_ me, Gaius! I don't know if it's because he remembers what happened, or because he can feel magic and doesn't trust it, or just because my face scares him, but he hates me!"

Gaius didn't reply and carefully glanced at Arthur, who was still in his arms, quiet, fixing his gaze on Merlin.

"He looks calm to me."

"Okay, try to give him to me, you'll see." Merlin sighed, holding out his arms toward them.

He was already prepared at Arthur's screams, which would show Gaius that he was right, but the baby didn't protest when Gaius gave him to Merlin. Arthur was quiet, his blue eyes wide open, and clutched at Merlin's shoulder to be sure not to fall. Gaius looked at them a while, waiting, and Merlin himself didn't dare say or do anything, scared that Arthur would start hitting him again.

"He still looks calm to me," Gaius finally said, raising his eyebrow.

"He might have calmed down. That's weird...," Merlin hesitated as Arthur was touching his face softly. It made Merlin felt nervous, somehow. "So we're okay now, Arthur?"

Arthur made a childish grin and let his face fall against Merlin's cheek, giving him a awkward kiss.

Gaius and Merlin looked at each other, puzzled but pleased. Actually Merlin couldn't believe it; he felt himself relax, glad that Arthur didn't hate him anymore. The baby was a riddle.

"See?" Gaius said. "That's okay as long as you don't grab him like a bag."

"Yeah. Yeah he's - Aaaaaaaaah ! Arthur, _stop_! _Arthur, it really hurts, stop it!_" Merlin exclaimed, desperately trying to remove Arthur from his grip without hurting him.

"What's going on?" Gaius exclaimed with worry. He came closer and took Arthur as soon as Merlin managed to separate them, bringing the baby back against his chest.

"He _bit_ me!" There were red, deep marks of tiny teeth on Merlin's cheek, and it was clear than the baby had bit with all his strength. "See? He hates me! He's violent and _vicious_!"

"You'll have another bruise" Gaius prognosticated, looking worried. "But I still need to go check if the knights are already gone. W_e_ need to know for how long this place is still safe for you!"

"And what will we do, then, when we find out that it is not anymore?"

There were not many options, they both knew that. Surely, Merlin would have to leave if someone came back at Camelot and told the King what he had done. But what would they do with Arthur, then? He couldn't leave him like this; he'd have to find a solutionand that would be really difficult if he had to hide from Uther at the same time, and Arthur himself acting this way with Merlin.

Gaius made a face and gave him Arthur, ignoring his screams and Merlin's protest.

"We'll talk about that later. For now just take him with you, and go fetch some food. Be quick, it doesn't need to be a big deal. Even you can do it, can't you?"

Arthur began screaming as soon as Merlin took him, and the young warlock slightly flinched from the strong noise. There was no way he would handle it the whole day, and certainly not if they had to go to the market together. Merlin fought with Arthur, trying to grab him correctly and, once he had managed to immobilize him, he whispered a few words, his eyes turning gold. Arthur didn't stop fighting and his mouth kept wild open, but at least his scream were now impossible to hear. Merlin sighed with relief before lifting his eyes back at Gaius - who was staring at him as if he wasn't able to believe what he'd just seen. Merlin had the common sense to blush.

"_Merlin_!"

"You said we had to be discreet!"

"Yes, to be discreet, not to bewitch the prince _again_!"

"That's just a silent spell," Merlin mumbled. "It does no harm – quite the contrary, if you want my opinion."

"I don't care! You must NOT bewitch Arthur, whatever the reason is! Don't you think you've done enough?"

"Yeah, well, I'm sorry Arthur."

Well, he was not _really_ sorry this time and he was absolutely not going to remove the spell anyway. So when Arthur looked as upset as Gaius was, Merlin had to restrain himself to grin in a very, very childish way. _How sweet is revenge, _he mentally sang. He, too, could be vicious if Arthur wanted to play it this way. He hadn't let anyone bully him without reacting in years, and he was not going to allow Arthur to do it – baby or not.

He was the adult; he was the one who had to show his authority. Right.

"You better stop mocking Arthur and get to the market right now, Merlin!"

"I don't-"

"Don't even pretend you're not! Now go, will you, before I move you outside myself!"

"Yeah, yeah, we're leaving, we're leaving!" Merlin mumbled, tightening his grip around Arthur before leaving.

Arthur seemed to have understood that, no matter how hard he tried, he would not be able to let escape another single sound. He was livid with anger and trying to escape again, but Merlin took advantage of Arthur's tempory immobility to grab him better, so he wouldn't be able to kick him later. It wasn't helping their relationship, but for now, Merlin didn't care. He just hoped that the short trip to the market wouldn't turn into a nightmare.

**oOoOo**

Gwen was staring absently at the wall on the opposite side of the kitchen, her hands clasped together before her. She missed Lancelot. It didn't matter how hard she tried, she couldn't stop thinking about him. Every moment she had for herself, every second that her hands or her head were idle, her mind escaped from control, from Camelot, and went to Lancelot's side.

Where was he? Was he safe, at least?

She just couldn't help herself. And sometimes, blushing at the single idea, she was hoping than he too was thinking about her, wherever he was, whatever he was doing.

Surely, he had met other women. He was too good-looking a man; he was too kind; there was no way that he hadn't met someone else.

"Here you are, Lady Morgana's breakfast."

Gwen lifted her head at the kitchen maid and gave her a smile before taking the plate. "Thank you."

The maid just nodded before turning on her heels and going back to cleaning the dishes. Gwen left and went back through the corridors, holding the plate, her thoughts shifting toward Lancelot again.

She really should stop doing that. It wasn't as if he would come back and take her with him (even so, she wouldn't leave Morgana) or planned to stay here with her so they would start a serious relationship, marry, make a family together... This was the kind of stupid things girls wanted to do with the men they loved. He wouldn't have left Camelot if he had wanted all the crazy things that seemed to obsess Gwen.

She had to stop thinking about that. Maybe he would return, someday, but until this moment she had to stop moping. And it was not as if her life at Camelot was that bad, it was just... She felt lonely. Morgana was an amazing friend, Merlin too (well, even if he was sometimes kind of... weird? Not in a bad way; she didn't mean weird _weird_, but... kind of... it was not easy to understand him all the time, was it?), but she lived alone since her father's death, and every time she went back home, she felt lonely.

She missed her father. She missed a family.

"Good morning" she said, coming into Morgana's room after knocking. "Did you sleep well?" she asked, seeing that her mistress was already awake.

Morgana was sitting on her bed, looking confused. She lifted her head toward Gwen and kept looking at her for a while before she answered.

"Yes..."

Gwen frowned. She knew her mistress too well not to understand. "Not another nightmare?"

"I had a... a dream. A very strange dream." she replied with a weak smile, as if it had been really ridiculous. She watched as Gwen put her breakfast on the table before saying, "There was a baby."

Gwen smiled and went to the cupboard. She took Morgana's dress and held it up to help her mistress to dress. "You want a baby?" she asked, grinning.

Morgana raised her eyebrow and smiled at the same time, looking both amused and undignified. "_Me_? Oh no. No. I already have to look after Arthur, and the later I'm getting married, the better."

"You don't want to get married?" Gwen asked again, serious this time.

"No." Morgana answered nevertheless before getting up. She let Gwen dress her, and didn't add anything. Gwen looked confused but didn't insist, and silently tied the lace at Morgana's back.

"Do you?" the lady asked after a while, her voice low.

"Excuse me?"

"Getting married and having babies. Is that something you want?"

Gwen smiled weakly before nodding. "Yes. Very." She adjusted Morgana's dress before asking, "So this baby? How was he?"

"Well, he was trying to kill Merlin, actually."

* * *

**PREVIEW : ****#04 – You better not joke with the King about some things.**

"Anybody who would help us will be rewarded more with more than he could ever believe. And anybody who hides from us any information will be sentenced to jail forever, and his entire family and all of his friends put to death. I hope you do understand that we are very serious about it."

**oOoOo**

The way she smiled, he knew it didn't worked. _Of course it didn't worked._


	4. You better not joke with the King

OKAY, some clarification now ! This story _has_ slash to come (don't worry about the OC :D I'm not a canon/OC fan), if it agrees to go where I want it to! The plot became a little more serious than I thought it would be in the first place, so there will be some passages of violence and suspense, more or less serious! So this fic will probably be serious AND full of fun and cuteness :D 3 I hope you'll like it anyway! (I'm so sorry I've taken so long to write this chapter, but Real Life had been a little mad ; For those who don't remember very well what happened before : Merlin cursed Arthur by accident and transformed him into a baby. He tried to find a solution but not his book nor the Dragon helped him, so he's stuck and Arthur seemed to hate him, to not make things better. The knights reported Uther that they thought Arthur had been kidnapped, and Morgana dreamed about a baby trying to kill Merlin! Now here we go!)

**A baby at Camelot**

**#04 – You better not joke with the King about some things.**

Monday morning and Thursday morning were usually market-days in Camelot. Several merchants were coming from all the villages around to sell every kind of thing, and the courtyard of the castle was so full of people and so noisy that it was really hard to ignore it. The kitchen made a profit from these days to buy all that would be needed until the next market-day and that the castle stocks didn't provide yet, like very fresh products or missing utensils. There were also a lot of stands where women were buying clothes and fabrics, and some others where it was possible to buy weapons or jewels. It was possible to find anything, since the market sell a lot of different things. . It was always a big event, even if it was over by midday. Nobles usually didn't go there, but sometimes they did, and even if sellers had to make some bows for these clients they didn't complain, because nobles never argued about the price of what they wanted.

But Merlin wasn't noble, and he certainly didn't have a lot of money, so he negotiated just like everybody did.

"Are you kidding? Who will give that much for that? That's just common food!"

"That's it or that's nothing, boy!" the man answered, frowning. "You can go somewhere else if you think that is too good for your babe!"

Merlin hesitated and held Arthur up against his shoulder, mentally trying to count how much he had and what he still had to buy.

Arthur had been awful all the way along, quiet -God bless the spell- but fighting, biting and pulling at his hair until he escaped from Merlin's arms and fell.

Then everything happened too fast.

The shock alone of seeing him falling from so high up had been terrible. In only one second, Merlin's blood had turned to ice and time had slowed down when he saw him falling, his mind filled with too many pictures of Arthur hitting the ground badly, of his little body bleeding, broken, of this cart coming right to them, which wouldn't be able to stop soon enough to avoid him. It was at the very last moment that he grabbed Arthur, just before he hit the ground and the wheel had run over him.

Although no harm was done, Merlin felt like his heart had skipped one or two beats because of the fear and it was now beating madly. His legs seemed to be made of cotton and he was shaking right after that, unable to control it, checking if his baby was alright. Arthur had kept silent at first, choked, before he started crying loudly. And this time, he grabbed him tightly when Merlin tried to comfort him.

It was something to look after an adult-Arthur, but it wasn't the same for a baby. Arthur seemed to have learned his lesson well enough and was now really calm. It wasn't the place to take risks. He had kept his hands firmly holding onto Merlin's neckerchief, his body pressed against him, just looking around him. Merlin was glad of it and, he too, took care to hold him better. There was no way that he would allow him to escape his arms again ; _no – way_!

To get over it and to reward Arthur for his wise decision to calm down, he decided to buy him something that he would actually enjoy eating. The oatmeal was a little thick and surely Arthur wouldn't even eat it, so it was not a good plan after all.

But baby-food was really expensive, and Merlin was quite sure that most of people didn't buy it. They would be buying something else for their babies, but he didn't know what yet. Baby-food was a luxury, and an expensive one.

Arthur had turned his head toward the man before looking at what he was selling. He was frowning, very concentrated, as if he was trying to decide what will be good enough for him to eat this morning.

The man's stand was obviously dedicated at babies and children and Merlin thought that he should buy some clothes for Arthur as well, but it was a lot of things to buy and he wasn't really rich.

"What does his mother usually give him?" the man sighed finally. It was clear that Merlin wasn't used to doing the shopping.

"I'm sorry?"

"His mother – your wife, I guess. What does she gives him?"

"Oh."

His wife, yeah, sure.

"Eeerrr I'm not sure...," he managed after a while. "I'm not..." The man frowned a little more, and the fear of being seen as a baby-thief made Merlin point to the thing right in front of him "I think that's it. She's the one who buy it usually."

The man looked at what Merlin was pointing and nodded. "That's the same price as the one you first wanted."

"Then we're going to change the menu today. What else do you have, which is less expensive?"

Arthur frowned and gave a slight slap at Merlin's cheek. He didn't do anything more, but still looked upset.

Merlin winced before whispering to the baby, "Yeah, well if maybe you weren't that stingy, I would be able to afford it. That's your fault so don't complain!"

Arthur slapped him again, harder.

"Aoutch!"

He was ready to grumble at Arthur but a woman's voice interrupted him, standing right behind him.

"Oh darling, _finally_ I found you, thank God!"

And of course it couldn't be for Merlin, but the sound was so close that he turned his head to look who was talking.

**oOoOo**

Erec got off his horse at the same moment that the soldiers began run into the village and enter the first houses. Most of the villagers were out in the field or at the market by now, but those who were still at home were soon pushed out in the streets as the soldiers searched everywhere without an explanation. They looked confused and scared but didn't dare complain when Erec ordered them to group at the central place of the little village. There were mostly old people, women and children, but for all Erec knew, any of them could be the one they were looking for.

Holding the reins of his horse and slowly walking in front of them, Erec looked at their faces before he began speaking, his voice clear and authoritarian.

"Something happened yesterday afternoon, a mile away from this village, to the North. The prince had been attacked and we need to know who his opponent was, what has been done to him and where he is now."

The villagers looked terrified and Erec saw several surprised glances that they gave each others. The soldiers were still entering every house, looking for any trace of the prince, moving the furniture to find potential hiding doors or trap doors. The villagers were looking at their homes, feared that the soldiers would destroy everything, but they all looked back at Erec as soon as he spoke again.

"One of you saw what happened."

Once again, they glanced at each other, but no one raised his hand or spoke.

"Anybody who would help us will be rewarded more with more than he could ever believe. And anybody who hides from us any information will be sentenced to jail forever, and his entire family and all of his friends put to death. I hope you do understand that we are very serious about it."

**oOoOo**

Right behind him stood a woman, smiling and her gaze fixed on him. And obviously, yes, she was talking to him, because her smile grew wider when she saw his face. She was older than he was, maybe something like thirty, with black eyes and black long hair. Merlin knew a lot of maids, but he was pretty sure he didn't know this one.

"... I'm sorry?"

"I've been looking for you, what are you doing? You don't need to buy anything here, I've everything already! Come!"

And just like that, she grabbed his arm and dragged him with her, away from the stand. The man frowned while looking at them, but Merlin had no time to say anything and he was already in the middle of the crowd again. The woman was stronger than she looked and Merlin had some difficulties avoiding people while following her.

"What are you doing? Eh, wait!" He finally managed to protest. "I'm sorry but you must be confusing between me with someone else -"

The woman turned her head toward him and gave him and Arthur a brief look.

"Oh? Well, let's see, you're the one who turned the blond knight into a baby yesterday, aren't you?" she said, her voice casual but low enough to not be heard by anyone else, a happy smile on her face.

All of a sudden, he felt his blood turning cold and his whole body tensed. The woman's hand was still grabbing him strongly, as if he might try to escape, but he didn't think he would be able to run right now anyway, so it was useless. He kept staring at her in return but couldn't think of an answer that would save him right now.

So the only thing he managed to answer -with more faith and conviction than he felt, his own face suddenly calm- was: "No, I'm not."

The way she smiled, he knew it didn't worked. _Of course it didn't worked._

"Oh, really? So this is your baby?"

"Yeah. Yeah, it is."

The woman looked amused, and Merlin guessed that _yes_, she definitely knew, and that at this point it might be better try to beg on his knees for her silence than to make her think she was mistaken. She pulled him into a corner, where nobody could listen to what they were saying, and Merlin didn't like her smile at all. She looked too happy about the situation, and a little insane. Arthur himself kept calm and seemed to evaluate how the situation was going.

"So what's his name? And who's his mother?"

He opened his mouth but couldn't find an answer. His brain was burning with the urge of finding something to say to her, but the panic frizzed it as well. She kept looking at him, then at Arthur, before she whispered calmly, "His name's Arthur, he's the Crown Prince of Camelot and you turned him into a baby yesterday evening. Don't pretend otherwise, I saw it."

Merlin felt sweat trickling down his back as he closed his eyes. Right now he was afraid - not for himself, because that the witness coming directly to him was the best way things might have happened – but for what he would have to do now. Convince her to say nothing, or kill her otherwise. He never enjoyed killing, but he did it already, each time it was needed. He knew he would be strong enough to do it, but he also knew that he would remember the woman's face until the end of his days.

"What do you want?" he asked as he opened his eyes again. She might want something, if she came to him, to blackmail him or whatever.

"I want your protection for my sister, her child and myself," she whispered again without stopping to look at him. "I will help you cure him in return, but you have to hide us."

"Hide you from what?" Merlin asked as he tightened his grip around Arthur a little more. The question was pointless; he understood already.

"From Uther. We're on the same side, Emrys, so what you do say?"

Arthur did not move, but Merlin could feel his little body suddenly tense. He thought it would be nice if he could spend a whole day without attracting trouble and stop giving Arthur reasons to hate him.

**oOoOo**

Morgana frowned as several soldiers went by them, running into the corridor. She gave Gwen a questionable glance, but the maid looked as lost as she. They had come across many soldiers since this morning. It seemed that they were all searching everywhere in the castle, and as Morgana passed near a window, she saw them circling the market, checking everyone who entered the courtyard.

"What is happening?" she asked even though she knew Gwen didn't know any better than her.

"I... I don't know," Gwen answered. She had been too engrossed in her own thoughts on her way to Morgana's chamber to notice what was going on.

"I'm going to see Uther," Morgana said before starting to walk again, looking more upset than worried. "He might tell me."

Gwen nodded. "Do you want me to do something?"

"Just go ask Merlin to bring me a new bottle of Gaius' potion, for my nightmares. Mine is empty."

Gwen nodded again before she turned on her heels and went toward Gaius' chamber. Morgana walked alone in the corridor, her chin high, not paying attention at all the guards and the agitation around her. She didn't know what was going on, but she felt that somehow it was something serious.

The Council chamber's door opened as she approached it and she frowned again when she saw three messengers and Leon coming out of it. Leon gave her a slight bow before she entered. Uther was standing near his throne, talking to Gaius who looked a little pale, concerned.

He finally gave a bow to Uther before he left, and Morgana looked at him, more worried by the old man's agitation than by the soldiers's.

"What is it, Morgana?" Uther asked, his voice impatient enough to make very clear than he didn't have a lot of time for her.

"What happened, my lord?" she asked after she heard the door closed. "I saw guards everywhere."

"Arthur has been kidnapped," Uther answered. "We're looking for him."

Morgana blinked, taken by surprise. "I beg your pardon?"

Arthur wasn't a man to be kidnapped. He was stupid, of course he was, but not in a battlefield, not while facing an opponent. He was a strong warrior and a smart spirit when it was about fighting, so he couldn't have been kidnapped. Plus he always was with some knights and Merlin was always following him like a pet; they weren't even at war with another kingdom at this point!

Uther looked at nothing but was extremely serious, and Morgana understood that, however mad it sounded, that it had happened. And all of a sudden, she, too, began to worry.

"How could it be...?" she asked, coming nearer. "When did it happen?"

"Yesterday. Leon and Erec thought that he may have been attacked by a sorcerer. I already sent my men searching on the villages all around and Leon has orders to search the castle and the low town as well. He will look into your room too and I ask that you let him look at wherever he might ask you for, is that clear?"

"Because you think than I can be in this plan? That I may have kidnapped Arthur myself?"

"I think that you already hide something from me, Morgana! And that if this time I learn that you have anything to do with sorcerers or druids, God help me, the oath I gave your father may been broken."

Morgana paled and took a step back, but her face stayed straight and proud. She knew she gave reasons to Uther not to trust her in the past, but the truce was very clear and even if they often had fought, Uther wasn't used to talking to her this way.

"Never could I have done anything to harm Arthur," she said once she was sure that her voice wouldn't quaver. "He's the Prince, my future King. And my brother since he agreed to be."

Morgana never stopped arguing with Arthur, but he was important to her, as she knew she was important to him as well. Never would she allow anyone to harm him, in the very same way she was sure he would have kill anyone who might have wanted to touch her. The fact that they were both strong people who usually didn't need help didn't change that.

"I believe you, Morgana," Uther finally said, still looking at her, but calmed down. "But Leon will still look in your room."

"As it will please you, my lord," she agreed with a slight bow.

Uther nodded and wavedhis hand, giving her permission to leave. She turned on her heels without complaint, still feeling insulted by his accusation, but stopped before she passed through the door that a guard had opened.

"Where do you send your messengers? Will we see our allies in the castle soon?"

She didn't think Uther would tell the other kingdoms about it, but it was possible. There were some things that it was better not to joke about with Uther, his son's safety was one of them, and magic another one. The two of it grouped together, Morgana was sure Uther would not hesitate to destroy all Albion to bring back Arthur to Camelot and have the culprits beheaded.

"I've called for all the sorcerers' hunters around." Uther answered, his eyes as cold as his voice. "I will make them regret what they did to Arthur."

Morgana nodded and left without answering. She walked as proudly and calmly than ever, ignoring the terrified feeling in her stomach and her heart beating madly. She had a very bad feeling about the whole thing, and just hoped Arthur was okay. She really did.

**oOoOo**

Gwen knocked on the door and pushed it open when she didn't hear any answer.

"Merlin?" she called, "...Gaius?"

She glanced inside, but the room was empty. She sighed a little, but it didn't truly surprise her. Merlin might have been with Arthur by now, and Gaius had things to do, too. She would come back later in the morning, or tried to find Merlin so she could ask him, and he would bring the potion to Morgana before the evening. She turned on her heels and closed the door, but the sound of footsteps on the stair made her stopped.

"Merlin!" she exclaimed, smiling, as the prince manservant appeared, "Good timing! I was – what is...? You have a baby?"

Merlin didn't really look happy to see her, even if she knew he tried to hide it. He looked tired and not in a very good mood, but that might be because the baby he was holding was kicking him in the chest. As soon as the baby saw her, it stopped and reached its arms toward her so she would hold him. She smiled helplessly, not knowing what to do or where this baby came from. Behind Merlin was a young woman she didn't know who was smiling happily, as if it were some funny situation. The baby wriggled in Merlin's arms but didn't scream at all, and Gwen had to admit, she felt confused.

"Hi, Gwen," Merlin answered. "Might I present you, that's -"

"My baby girl!" the woman interrupted as if she was so proud than she had to say it herself, almost singing with joy, "Isn't she sooooo _cute_?"

"Oh! Yeah, yeah, sure! She really is!" she answered, though the baby looked a little violent, she was beautiful. "Merlin what... what happened to your face? You've been in trouble?"

Merlin grimaced and passed near her to open the door "Never mind. You were looking for me?"

"Ah, yeah! Morgana asked for her potion!"

He nodded and went in. "I think I've that inside, Gaius left it somewhere, I will give it to you right now."

They followed him inside and the woman closed the door behind him. Merlin left the baby on the ground and she immediately ran to her foot. Gwen hesitated but scooped her into her arms as it seemed to be what she wanted. This baby was really cute, holding her like this even if she had never seen her before. Gwen couldn't help herself and gave her some idiotic smiles and sweet kisses. She groaned a little but kept holding her firmly.

"What's her name?" she asked the mother.

"Mary-Lou, but you can call her Mary," she answered with a wave of her hand. "She won't mind."

"She's a really beautiful little girl."

The mother just nodded, looking proud, and Gwen glanced at Merlin who was looking for the potion Morgana asked.

"So?" Gwen asked again, "You're Merlin's friend?"

"Oh, not really no, I just met him and he agreed to help me about a little problem I have. He's charming, isn't he?"

Gwen smiled and nodded to both, a little embarrassed "Yeah, yeah he is."

"Here's your potion, Gwen!" Merlin interrupted, coming back toward her and giving her a little bottle. "I'll tell Gaius I gave it to you."

She took it, smiling and gave him back the baby in return (Merlin had to gently force Mary-Lou to let go) "Sure! Thank you. Well, bye...?"

"My name's Elsie. It has been nice to meet you, Gwen."

"Yeah, very!" Gwen smiled at them and was about to turn toward the door but then stopped and asked "But - you're not supposed to be in Arthur's service today, Merlin?"

"No, I have my day off."

"Oh, okay. Well, see you later!"

She closed the door and left them alone, the little bottle in her hands. She was not sure if she should have told Merlin about Morgana's dream. All of this was... a little strange.

But the baby-girl was really, really cute anyway.

**oOoOo**

It was only at midday that the market finished. It had been harder for the customers and the merchants to trade this day, because of the difficulties entering and leaving the courtyard. Every merchant had been searched at least twice and everything that had looked suspect or weird to the guards had been confiscated and their owners put in jail, until Gaius decided if what the guard saw might be from sorcery or not.

A teenager noble had laughed about the whole thing and found it funny to pretend to be a witch with some of her friends. Unfortunately for her a guard saw it and she had been put in jail as well. And stayed in it, no matter how her parents tried to convince Uther to release her.

It didn't need a lot of time for everyone to be aware of what was going on, and by midday no one ignored that whoever might help the King to find his son would be granted a reward, and that whoever made a single wrong move would be beheaded.

Some rules had been given that everyone would have to respect if they would like avoid trouble with Uther. At first, it was absolutely forbidden to leave his village or his house. If someone disappeared, the neighbors would have to report it to the castle as soon as possible and the fugitive would be considered as a traitor, and been hunted by the knights until they brought him back to Camelot, where he would be interrogated. There was no need to talk about torture or a sentence to the death; everyone understood very clearly what would happened to such a man. The second rule was about respecting the new curfew, and the third to report every stranger, every person who looked suspect to the Court. Those rules had been announced to the whole castle in the morning, and there was no doubt that the whole kingdom would know them by the end of the day.

Uther was furious, and it was terrifying. Everyone feared his anger, because he was not a man to be provoked. And everyone feared what might have happened to their Prince, and if he would or not come back safe to them. Because if everyone was afraid of Uther, everyone loved Arthur.

**oOoOo**

Elsie finished dressing Arthur and released him, gently smiling.

"Here, you're ready, Sire. See, it was no use to try to kick me."

She turned her head and looked at Merlin, who was still standing behind her, watching her every move, as mistrustful as Arthur had just been. Elsie didn't say anything, she left Arthur and let Merlin take him again. Merlin had brought back legumes from the kitchen and Elsie had shown them how to cook it so Arthur would be allowed to eat it.

The baby was a little strange with Merlin, she thought, he often kicked him or screamed when the warlock was trying to hold him, but it was like he was now a little tired of it and sometimes just decided to let it go, and restart screaming and kicking later. For now, he let Merlin hold him against his chest and started to suck his thumb, blinking idly.

Merlin, too, looked tired, but that she could understand.

"So," the old man - Gaius's voice broke the silence, and Elsie turned her head toward him, "you're a witch."

"Yes," she nodded, smiling. "I learned magic with my sister when I was fifteen. That's not easy, I have to say."

Merlin pinched his lips, caressing Arthur's back with his free hand, and then asked, "You learned it, I was born with it and still, I can't find anything to cure Arthur. How do you think you can do something to help us?"

"Well, maybe I'm not born with it, but I read a lot," she answered with a frown. "And my sister read more than I did. You don't have a lot of things here -"

"I've a spell book," Merlin cut her, but she smiled again, and definitely, she made him feel uncomfortable. He was not sure he trusted her.

"Well. I've a _bookcase_ full of spell books, and if I'm not powerful enough to deal with most of them, I think you will be."

"How is it that you own so many books?" Gaius asked before Merlin could. "They're really rare."

"I live with many druids and sorcerers, they're not exactly _mine_."

Merlin and Gaius shared a look before the young warlock looked at her again "Alright. And what about your sister? Where is she now?"

"She's still with them, but I want to bring her back here with me by tomorrow. We'll leave Camelot tonight, I'll guide you until we reach my village, so you'll take back every book you need."

Merlin blinked, confused. She couldn't be serious about it. They had heard about the rules Uther already put in place, about everyone the guards arrested. There was no way that they would be able to leave the castle after the curfew and then come back with some magic artefacts and spell books under their coats. The woman was a stranger too, and her sister and her nephew as well. How would he manage to do such a thing without being arrested, then tortured and hypothetically sentenced to death?

"You do realize Camelot is the most dangerous place for people like us, right now even more than ever? And that if Uther had called the sorcerer's hunters here, the following days are going to be awful? Where do you think we can hide you from Uther under his own roof?"

It really was nonsense, but still, Elsie shook her head stubbornly. "I've my reasons. I'll help you to cure the Prince, but you have to hide us and to protect us!"

"I agree to protect you!" Merlin protested "But _here_? I _can't_ protect you _here_!"

"You'll find a way to if you want my help!" she almost shouted, and Arthur opened his eyes, waking up as he had almost fallen asleep against Merlin's shoulder.

Merlin caressed his back and his hair again, mentally cursing the Fates, but finally nodded. Alright, he would find a way. The Dragon said so, didn't he? He knew he just had to do it, however foolish it sounded; that was the only way he knew now which could help him to get over all of it.

"Alright," he sighed.

Elsie nodded, smiling with relief. Gaius didn't seemed to share the feeling at all, though, and he got up from his chair to grab Merlin's arm. Merlin knew what he was about to say so he opened his own mouth to answer Gaius's protestation, but three strong knocks at the door interrupted them. They all turned their heads towards the noise, suddenly silent as they heard Leon's voice coming through it.

"Gaius? I'm sorry but I have to search your apartment!"

* * *

**Okay so this chapter was a little mad, but that's for the plot (Wth, what plot??)**. **Reviews made me feel a happy bunny :D** **If someone's still here to read this weird story**

**

* * *

PREVIEW ****#05 – Almost flying.**

Okay, one, two...

"You're sure of what you're doing?"

"Yeah" he lied. _Three_.


	5. Almost flying

**Disclaimer:** I own nothing, as we all know.

**Author note**: Thanxs to Archaeologist_d who help me so much with her beta 3 And thanxs to LadyFromPoland and FireChildSlytherin5 for their nice review since the beginning of this story, and at all the others who read it and encourage me as well ;)

**A baby at Camelot**

**#05 – Almost flying.**

Since his very first day in Arthur's service, Merlin had faced so much dangers and so many enemies than it taught him to act quickly -very quickly- when he was feeling there was a risk to Arthur or when he was in danger. It became a reflex, and it saved their lives many times before. Merlin learned that it was better to act at the moment and fix what may be fixed later, than not to act and let bad things happen. Because often, a little late was already too late.

Letting Leon search Gaius's room when there was a stranger, a spell book and an agitated but weirdly silent baby in it _wasn't_ a good plan, and even if Merlin thought that Leon had nothing against him, he was sure that if the knight saw it, then it would be over. He would put Elsie in jail until he was sure that she was not a danger, and as soon as the sorcerer hunters discovered that she was a witch, she would be beheaded. It was likely that Leon would just find the spell book, and then they wouldn't even need to wait for the sorcerer hunters – it would be a death sentence for the three of them, even for Gaius.

So the only thing Merlin could do when Leon began open the door was to release his magic and have the library above the door come crashing down. Half of it fell with a furious noise and Merlin immediately turned his back to it, holding Arthur up against his chest, protecting him from the fragments and the dust. He heard Gaius cry out with surprise and checked to see if the physician was fine.

"Gaius?!" Leon's voice shouted, "What happened, are you okay?"

The old physician coughed, his throat burning from the dust, his eyes watering. He gave Merlin a look before answering.

"Yes, yes I'm fine! The library just crashed down... You're not injured?" he answered while waving his hand toward Merlin to make him leave.

"I'm fine, but I can't open the door."

"Yes. Yes I'll.. just... try to clear it. Just wait a few moments."

Merlin didn't wait for the discussion between the two men to finish. He seized Elsie's arm and grabbed her, pulling her with him toward his own room.

"What are you doing?" she hissed, having enough commonsense to made her voice as quiet as possible.

He didn't answer and ran to his room. He lifted the plank from the floor where his spell book was hidden and gave it to Elsie, before opening the window, sending a quick glance toward the ground. It was really high and it was the middle of the day, but for now the street under them was totally deserted.

"_What are you doing?_" she repeated, looking confused and afraid at the speed things were happening.

"I'm saving our lives, but you'll thank me later! Now go and jump!"

"_Are you kidding?_"

Yeah, sure he was kidding, there was no reason to avoid a little joke when the situation was a little too tense, right? _Seriously_.

"You know how to float, or not?"

"I never tried!" she answered, quickly looking at the door to see Gaius slowly removing the mess against the door, still speaking with Leon.

Merlin hoped that she did. He used to do it when he was still a young teenager with Will. They went to hide in the forest and then Will made him float while holding him. It wasn't really flying, but it was fun, and they enjoyed it a lot. He hadn't done it since then, though, and holding a teenager as thin as Will wasn't the same as holding a thirty years old woman, a book and a baby, while trying not to fall too fast or be seen.

"Okay," he said, trying to figure out how to do it, "Okay. Hold him a second."

He gave her Arthur, who looked as confused and terrified as she was, and glanced once again at the street. A kid crossed it, running, but he disappeared quickly. He had to do it now before someone else appeared.

Not giving himself the time to be too afraid or to think too much, he climbed up on his box and sat on his window ledge, his legs dangling over the void. As determined as he was, he just couldn't help that his stomach was violently lurching at the view below him. It seemed even higher now than ten seconds ago.

"Give me back Arthur," he said, his fingers tightly grabbing the wall near him and turning his head toward her.

"You can't be serious," she muttered, still holding the book and Arthur in her arms.

"We don't have a lot of time, Elsie, so please give me back Arthur now!"

Arthur struggled more than ever as she gave him back, but Merlin made sure to hold him tight enough. Between the two of them, he was not sure who was more afraid, but he made sure of encircling Arthur in his arms to protect him. He wouldn't let any harm come to him; it was gonna be fine. Arthur would be fine, even if Merlin had to break his own back to do it, he swore to himself.

"Okay, now throw the book, come next to me and hold on. I'll make us float."

Elsie hesitated a beat before she obeyed, and he put a silent spell on the three of them and the book before she threw it by the window. Merlin saw his spell book hit the ground without making a sound. Then she went to his side, grabbing him as if her life depended of it – which might be the case, actually. Okay, one, two...

"You're sure of what you're doing?"

"Yeah" he lied. _Three_.

He pushed hard with his feet and jumped into the void, holding onto Arthur as if he wanted to never let him go, and somehow he felt the baby's fists holding onto him stronger than ever, too. The ground was coming up too fast at first, before his eyes turned gold and then they slowed down. Elsie was grabbing him so tightly it hurt and slid as they slowed down, but didn't release him. They might have been falling for four seconds but it seemed to be an eternity before they hit the ground, a little hard. Merlin immediately felt his knees bending and his body fell forward, so with one hand still holding Arthur, he let go with the other hand and put it forward to avoid them getting hurt. Elsie was still holding him and had fallen near him. He could feel her shaking, but he knew she was fine. Arthur, too, was still grabbing him and all shivering, but he wasn't harmed at all. Merlin couldn't believe he had just done what he did.

"You're okay?" he asked.

"Y. Yeah. I'm – fine. I. I think."

He nodded and stood up, pretending his legs weren't weak at all. He gave her back the book and helped her up as well before going in a dark corner of the street. There was nobody there, and after a moment without anybody screaming, he deduced that, thank God, they somehow hadn't been seen.

"So... what are we doing now?" Elsie asked, fiercely trying to regain her confidence.

Merlin didn't answer. He caressed Arthur's back, kissing his head to try to comfort him, aware of his heart still beating madly against his. Arthur said nothing, didn't scream or struggle, he just kept holding him as if they were still falling, and Merlin was surprised he wasn't crying.

"It's okay... You're safe now, it's okay...," he whispered.

"Well, we're not! So what are we doing now? I've _your_ book in _my_ hands, I don't want to be found with it if you don't mind! So now, hide me, please?"

He glanced at Elsie before nodding. She was right, he had to hide her, but where. They were against the castle's wall, the low town was being searched as well; there was no place where they would go where the guards wouldn't go. And they couldn't stay here too long, so, where?

The Dragon's cave.

Nobody never went there - the guards wouldn't go there! It was where he had to hide her, at least for now! Getting to it wouldn't be simple, but once they would be, it would be okay, and she could stay there until nightfall.

He looked around him, making sure the passage was safe, before making a sign for her to follow him. He didn't run, though. If they must be seen, it was better not to look too suspicious. Now he was able to think better, he hoped that Leon wouldn't be mistrustful toward Gaius. But the library was really old, it had already broken up once on the very first day Merlin met Gaius, so there was a chance that the knight wouldn't ask too much questions about it. He might have finished in Gaius's chamber now, and the guards might been searching elsewhere.

Somehow, they reached the dungeons without trouble. They used hidden corridors used by servants only and Merlin sometimes stopped a while, waiting for someone to go away before walking again. Arthur was now very aware of what was going on and started moving again into Merlin's arms while they went down the stairs toward the Dragon's cave. Elsie kept the book close to her chest, looking worried but quiet.

"Where are we going?" she whispered.

"Somewhere you will be safe," he answered, trying hard to keep his grip on Arthur. "Arthur, for God's sake, calm down!"

"He might be afraid of the dark."

Yeah, he might be, they hadn't a chance to take a torch and it was getting very dark by now, but Merlin knew his way. He tried to hold Arthur better before he gave up and whispered a spell.

A blue and bright ball of light appeared in front of him, lighting the spot around them and revealing the stairs, so they wouldn't break their necks.

And gradually, Arthur stopped fighting. His eyes went wide open as he fixed his sight on the blue ball, as if hypnotized by it. He blinked twice, but kept staring at it and then slowly removed his hand from Merlin to reach it toward the light and try to touch it. Merlin blinked but did nothing; he stopped as well to let him do it.

"What's going on?" Elsie's voice asked behind him, but he didn't really pay her attention.

Arthur was smiling, and Merlin felt himself uncertain. Arthur was calm, now, and he kept staring at the bright ball an entire minute before looking at Merlin once again. And for the first time since he transformed, he didn't looked angry, or tired, suspicious or upset; he just looked... curious.

Merlin hoped that Arthur was not about to bite him soon one more time, though.

"_What's going on?_"

"Nothing. Come," Merlin whispered.

Arthur wrapped his arms around Merlin's neck and kept looking at the blue ball. Despite Merlin's fear of another sudden reversal of his behavior, he kept calm this time and they managed to find their way until they reached the Dragon's cave. It was only a few steps from it that it occurred to Merlin than it might not have been a brilliant idea after all. But it was the only one he had for now, and there was no time to turn back now.

Fortunately, the Dragon wasn't in sight the moment they arrived. And if Elsie was impressed by the huge cave, she said nothing about it. He guided her deeper into the cavern, where he had never been before, with the magic ball alone to guide them. They stopped at a spot hidden from the cavern's entrance, so they wouldn't be seen even if someone had the idea to look there. There was a river that he had already noticed before. He took off his jacket and laid it on the floor, trying to make it feel a bit more comfortable before he sit down, Arthur against his chest.

The woman looked confused but sat down as well, a little awkward. It was cold and that definitely not was the best spot to just _wait_ and do nothing, but at least they were safe for now. Elsie did not speak, she just glanced around her and opened the spell book after a while, beginning to read it.

Merlin let her, his attention on Arthur, who still was glaring at the blue ball. Merlin _knew_ Arthur's behavior was weird, that it just wasn't normal, but the only explication he was able to think of was that Arthur remembered everything. And _that_ thought was scary, because it meant even more trouble when Arthur was fixed up.

What would he do, if Arthur remembered and returned on his own-self? The baby had been really violent, he just couldn't imagine how it would be to deal with the adult in _that_ state of anger. Arthur never had really bullied Merlin before, because even if he was inclined to resolve problems by force with his enemies, it was not the case with his friends, or even people who served him. He might be a prat, but he was too noble to do this sort of things to people he felt responsible of.

He didn't look violent anymore, but Merlin just didn't really trust it, not after the biting-incident. Arthur appeared to be a little lunatic.

"That ball isn't in your spell book?" Elsie voice whispered eventually.

Merlin turned his head toward her, a little surprised before he nodded.

"Oh, no. I created it before I came to Camelot. I hadn't the book at the time."

He smiled a little and let Arthur go as the baby seemed to want to. "I did it first when I was a toddler, it was just... I was a little afraid of the dark when I was a child, so it was useful at night."

Elsie gave him an odd look, but finally just nodded. Mostly, they didn't do anything much the following hours. Merlin made his own jacket smaller so it would fit Arthur's body -and seriously, why didn't he think about it earlier?- and dress him in.

Arthur let him do it and stayed calm for half an hour before he seemed to get bored and began to play with the ball.

Merlin made it solid so Arthur could take it, throw it and look at it rebounding around him before coming back to him. It was enough to make him laugh, and that laugh was so much relief after the stress that Merlin found himself slightly smiling as well and started to make the ball do bigger bounds, until they were huge, and Arthur kept laughing each time he threw it with all his might. It occurred that magic was really useful to distract Arthur and Merlin both.

It was cold, the ground was hard under them and they still heard the sounds of the crowd outside, but right now, it was okay. Arthur was playing, he clapped his hands together and laughed so much when Merlin was making the ball of light dance around him that all of it was okay.

Because Merlin was sure he would be able to do anything, as long as Arthur trusted him, as long as he didn't hate him as Merlin feared he did.

Perhaps he wouldn't remember, and it would be okay, even after all would be fixed. Or maybe Arthur would remember and it would be okay anyway, because he wouldn't hate Merlin, he would trust him nevertheless. Perhaps.

**oOoOo**

It was not very long before Morgana told Gwen what was going on.

Gwen knew Morgana, so Morgana didn't actually need to say how much she worried about Arthur; Gwen knew better than the Lady would have been able to explain. And she wasn't the kind to speak about it, anyway.

Morgana knew Gwen as well, though, so Gwen didn't actually need to ask either before Morgana asked her to go to check if Merlin already knew, and if he wasn't doing some foolish, brave and dangerous thing on his own to try to find Arthur by himself. They knew the boy, they knew the special bond between the prince and the manservant -God, they even knew better about that than the boys themself!- and they knew that if there were some stupid actions to take, then Merlin would do it without a second thought.

The guards were leaving when Gwen arrived at Gaius's chamber. The room was in a such a mess that Gwen had never seen before, and it seemed to come as much from the library above the door as from the search. Everything had been moved, even the floor and the stones walls had somehow changed, as if the guards have been trying to dislocate them. In the middle of it, Gaius sat on a chair, looking around him with tired eyes. He glanced up to see Gwen come in but didn't say anything, and the maid found herself wordless as well.

That was it. Uther's crazy and urgent urge to find his son made this without a second thought, no matter how Gaius proved to be worth trusting before.

Gwen's mouth opened and closed helplessly a few times before Gaius just shook his head. He didn't even seem to care.

"Where's Merlin...?" she asked finally. "Is he okay?"

Gaius nodded. "Yes, I think he's fine..."

Gwen said nothing more, a little awkward. Eventually she closed the door behind her and start to tidy up without a word.

**oOoOo**

Merlin's back was aching by nightfall. Arthur had kept playing with the ball for a while before he went (crept) into Merlin's arms and stared at Merlin's little tricks, giggling or just smiling as Merlin had made the blue ball dance in the air for him. It was beautiful to look at it moving in the huge and deserted cave. Very beautiful.

Arthur had fallen asleep in his arms at some point, and even if Merlin hadn't been in a very comfortable position, he hadn't dared to move since. Elsie looked over the whole book, groaning when the light was too far away so that she couldn't read anymore, but mostly she was silent, concentrating.

They spoke a little together, theirs voices low to not disturb Arthur and to not be heard outside. Merlin asked about her, and she explained a little of her story. She was actually thirty-one and grew with her parents and her younger sister, Lola who was twenty-seven, in a village at the North of Camelot. Her village belonged to Uther, but it was tiny so they didn't really see a lot of knights or whatever, just the man coming from the King every month to collect what they owed him. She had been eleven when the Great Purge began, and fifteen when she began to learn magic herself with her sister, though she didn't really want to explain under what circumstances exactly.

Merlin nodded and didn't ask further; he let her continue. She and her sister escaped the village at some point, and met some other sorcerers and druids who allowed them to live in their moving-village. It was a life of perpetual fear, mostly because of Uther, but it was great because they were doing magic and protecting each other. Elsie had someone before but no longer because he was dead, thank to some brave anti-magic fool, and now her sister was about to have a child herself. The father wasn't there anymore to take care of the child himself, she explained, so she took the role. Merlin just nodded once more, and said nothing.

They felt silent again, and so did the castle above them. The cold grew bitter and Elsie was puffing in her hands to try to heat them. She curled herself into a tight ball, her forehead on her knees, her eyes closed. She didn't actually fall asleep, because it was too much uncomfortable to, but Merlin saw her head slowly dropping once or twice. He looked at her a while before lifting his head.

Two giant golden eyes were staring at him in the darkness, and he twitched so violently that Arthur woke up. The baby groaned and opened his eyes, freezing at the sight of the huge Dragon looking at them. He moved and babbled, trying to escape from Merlin's arms, but Merlin tightened his grip on him and Arthur could do nothing but stare back.

Elsie lifted his head, frowning at the two boys before turning her head to look at what was going on. Color fled from her face and she screamed, moving back quickly before Merlin caught her arm and stopped her. She gave him a scared look, but he kept looking at the Dragon.

"So," the Dragon said, looking at the three of them. "You're here again."

Merlin nodded and didn't allow Elsie to escape. She hadn't intended to, though. She and Arthur were silent, as if any move or any noise would have made the Dragon attack them.

"And here is Arthur, and... an almost-witch, I guess. What is your name?"

"Elsie..." Elsie babbled, "Elizabeth, but... but 'Elsie' is fine..."

The Great Dragon kept staring at her for so long that Merlin asked himself if he did it on purpose to scare her. Probably the Great Dragon was looking at her destiny or her role in the Great History, or was deciding if she had the slightest importance at all.

"Why are you here?" he asked eventually.

"I... I was looking for... Merlin," she managed to answer. "I asked for his help."

"You can't change destiny," the Great Dragon answered. "You know that."

"There's nothing written about us!" Elsie found the bravery to shout – and definitely, she should stop shouting; it made Arthur jump again on Merlin's arms.

"What are you talking about?" Merlin asked, frowning, looking at them both.

He didn't have the slightest idea of what was going on, but Elsie seemed to be half-angry and still half-terrified by the Dragon. As neither of them gave him an answer nor would they talk anymore, he turned toward the Great Dragon.

"Listen, we'll soon be leaving. We just need to wait for the castle to fall asleep before..."

"Before you do some stupid thing. I guess." He looked once more at Elsie before he sighed and made himself more comfortable in order to listen to Merlin. "Why are you hiding here, young warlock?"

"Well, Uther's looking for Arthur and anything suspicious everywhere in the castle, so... I just couldn't think of anywhere else to hide. But we'll leave soon, I promise. Elsie might show me some books she owns which might help me to fix Arthur. We have to leave tonight, so we will be back before dawn, and... well."

The Dragon sort of frowned and Merlin felt uncomfortable.

"Once again," the Dragon finally said, "you're following the most stupid idea possible."

"It might be stupid, but it is the only I have so far. If you agreed to help me -"

"I helped you."

"If you agreed to help me in _maybe_ a clearer way, I wouldn't have to do that! There are guards everywhere outside and I've almost not been seen the whole day so people might begin to think that _I_ disappeared as well, or that I flew away, or _anything_! You know how to fix it!"

"Only you know."

"That's not true! Elsie told me she read something about it happening before, I'm not the only one who's supposed to know! I'm pretty sure I _don't_ know, I would have fixed it already if I did!"

The Great Dragon rolled his eyes and sighed, but didn't seem to think it was worth an argument. "You're a warlock, a magic-maker. Your magic has nothing to do with commons druids or fake-witches. You'll understand it by yourself eventually, if it is the only way for you to."

Merlin didn't answer, because he was quite sure he would lose his temper if they continued this way. The Dragon was so good at making others look as utter fools, and so bad at actually _helping_. It wasn't worth it.

"We're leaving now," he said, cutting off the conversation. "We'll be back by tomorrow morning, and I'll fix it."

"You would," the Dragon agreed. "May I suggest that, if you're about to leave, you don't use the front door anyway? I think I understood that guards were looking around."

"Because you know another way, maybe?"

The only passage Merlin knew was the one they used to make Mordred's escape, a long time ago, and it was now overseen as well. Uther wasn't a man to be fooled twice by the same trick.

"There is another way," Elsie said in a clear and somehow quiet voice.

Merlin turned his head toward her, and she lifted a finger to show him a huge entrance above their heads, almost hidden by the rocks, and where they could see the stars. It might have been the passage the Dragon used to come in, a long time ago.

"We can use it!"

For some reasons, it didn't seem to occur to her that this entry was a few hundred yards above them and that they couldn't really climb the cave's walls. The Dragon gave it a look too before he lowered his head and caught Merlin's sight. The Dragon frowned, and Merlin knew that Merlin could try to reach it if he wanted, but that he wasn't going to give them any help. Elsie seemed to understand it too.

"Make us levitate," she said, looking at Merlin "We'll be outside the castle, right? It would be easier!"

"I'm not sure, I... I didn't manage to do it really well, before, remember? That's really high, if I fail-"

"You won't. I trust you."

Arthur, though didn't seem to like the idea at all, but didn't struggle when Merlin nodded.

"Okay... Leave the book here, then. We won't need it, right? It's safe here."

Elsie nodded as well and put it on the ground before she came closer. She went behind Merlin's back, her arms around his shoulders, and Merlin could feel her breath against his skin, her heartbeat against his back. He wasn't sure she trusted him this much; the experience of what happened when they jumped from the window wasn't really comforting. But she looked determined and, more importantly, she knew there was no other way right now.

Arthur, too, didn't look as if he really liked the idea. He kept looking at the Dragon, then at Elsie's hands, and finally at Merlin. Merlin was holding him, looking back, waiting somehow. Arthur punched him on the chest, then closed his eyes and gripped his hands in his shirt, burying his face on Merlin's shoulder.

Merlin breathed deeply, shared a last glance with the Dragon before he looked again at the entrance. It would have been easier if they could have ridden the Dragon, but Dragons weren't beasts to ride. They weren't horses, or mules, there were no way that they would allow any human to ride them. Merlin knew it, Gaius already explained to him about the race's pride.

Instead, he closed his eyes a while before opening them again, and his eyes turned gold as his feet left the floor. He heard Elsie gaspd and felt her arms tightening their grip, he felt her legs trying to catch his, and her weight against him. She was heavy and her grip hurt him, but she stayed as still as she could as they began to lift off the ground, and Merlin was grateful for that. Arthur was breathing deeply and didn't open his eyes, his head still buried against Merlin.

They were far away from the ground, now, maybe not far enough to really get killed if they fell, but surely enough to have at least a limb broken.

"It's fine," Merlin whispered, as they kept ascending in the air.

And Arthur didn't release his grip, even a little, but slowly he opened his eyes and dared give a look under them. He held Merlin tighter, but strangely he smiled, even if his breath was deep with anticipation. Just as if it was no _real_ reason to be afraid.

As if floating like that in a huge cave, above a giant Dragon, almost flying, was as scary as it was kind of wonderful.

And it was. It really was.

They were heavy, and it wasn't easy, really, but Merlin just kept floating higher and higher. He wasn't truly afraid of failing the curse or about letting Arthur down, because he was holding him for dear life, but he was worried about Elsie at his back, whose grip grew less and less comfortable. She said nothing, but he could feel her slipping sometimes, and her arms were really hurting him by now.

It didn't take too long before he reached the entrance and, as soon as he could manage, he let himself touch down on the grass, a few yards away from the huge hole. Elsie didn't release him immediately; she took the time to make sure her legs wouldn't betray her. They walked away from the hole, making sure they wouldn't fall, silent and still shivering, but relieved.

She finally let him go, looking at the hole and then at Merlin, smiling.

"Whoa... Well... That was well done."

"Thank you," Merlin answered, feeling more proud than he probably should have. It was really great to float, but he hoped that he wouldn't have to do it again soon, because his legs kept feeling weak every time afterwards.

They walked half an hour before they reached the edge of the lower town. There were guards outside, but it was easier now that they were outside the castle itself. And, well, Merlin was kind of used to going outside without permission by now, thank to Arthur, so he knew how to deal with it. Or at least, he knew enough to avoid the guards and reach the last house of the lower town. They quietly came into the garden and Merlin pushed the door of the stables open, leaving Elsie and Arthur outside. It took him several moments to get the horse he found there ready, mostly because there was no light and he was trying to be as quiet as he could. The animal was compliant, though, which was a blessing. He took it by the reins and came out with it, feeling a little bad about the whole thing, but there were not many other choices. It wasn't really stealing; he would bring it back by morning.

They left Camelot like thieves, silent and sneaking as shadows, Merlin still holding the horse by its reins. Arthur was quiet and compliant as well, which was making things much easier. They waited to reach the forest to ride the horse. It was complicated, because there were three of them, and the horse was training to work in the field, not doing long trips. Eventually Elsie took the reins and sat in front of Merlin. Merlin sat behind her, holding her with one arm, and Arthur with the other, the baby stuck between the two of them. She glanced at him quickly before she looked in front of her and gave the horse a kick.

There was not much time.

**oOoOo**

It was late, and Merlin wasn't back yet. Gwen had waited with Gaius until late in the afternoon, but he still didn't come back, and Gwen was so worried that she was feeling sick. At some point, Gaius had just told her to go back to Morgana, that she didn't have to worry. She had helped him to clean up most of the room already; she had done far enough.

So Gwen came back to Morgana's side, but as soon as the Lady saw her she asked, and Gwen told her. Morgana was worried too. She already checked to see if Merlin had been put in jail for some reason, but he wasn't, and still he was nowhere to be found. They were lucky that nobody else but the two of them and Gaius had noticed it, because certainly it would have been a bit of trouble for him.

But if he wasn't there, then where was he?

Gwen said nothing. She just prayed for him to be alright, and not do anything stupid in an attempt to help Arthur.

The two women shared Morgana's bed that night. So when Morgana moved in her sleep, disturbed by nightmares, her maid was there to comfort her, awake and gently caressing her mistress's back, holding her in her arms.

* * *

**Next chapter next week!**


	6. Don't play with your food

**A baby at Camelot**

_(Previously on "A baby at Camelot": Merlin turned Arthur into a baby by accident, and __neither the Dragon nor his magic book seem to be able to help him. He's stuck with a very angry Arthur until a thirty years old druid called Elsie catches him and offer help against protection for her and her family. Despite Uther's soldiers looking everywhere, they manage to run away from Camelot at nightfall to go at Elsie's village and take other magic-books there.)_

**#06 – Don't play with your food.**

It took them two and a half hours before they found Elsie's village. At some point, Merlin wondered if they would be able to come back at Camelot by morning, but he didn't let himself doubt too much. He could think of nothing to help them to go faster (and seriously, he should start to look for such a spell, for all the times he had to run here and there to save Arthur, or another random dramatic situation), so it was all on the horse. But even if they didn't come across anyone to slow them, the animal was owned by a farmer, his usual work was in the fields, no long runs. The fact that they were two -well, three with Arthur – wasn't helping, and they had to walk some of the way, to spare the horse.

Merlin himself was feeling the tiredness as well, though. His whole body was aching: his back, from having spend the whole day sitting in the Dragon's cavern and then on a horse, and worst of all, his arms for having carried Arthur since morning. The baby wasn't really heavy at first, of course, but having spend the whole day carrying him was enough to give the impression his weight was close to that of a full armor's.

They walked for nearly half an hour and Merlin wanted nothing more than to put down Arthur somewhere and sit. And to sleep, but there was not the slightest chance that he would be allowed to do that, because of all the things he still had to do. Like, saving the day.

Merlin didn't see Elsie's village at first, but she looked sure about her way. As she explained to him, it occurred because they had put a spell on their village to protect it from any attack. However, they both knew they still were in Camelot kingdom and that if Uther were to decide to have another Great Purge, Elsie's village would be found, sooner or later.

Elsie guided him between the tents until they found one a little apart. They didn't meet anybody and Merlin supposed that they might be asleep, because it was the middle of the night. The tent they entered was arranged with two bedrolls and a pregnant woman was sleeping in one of them. Elsie knelt by her side and touched her arm, but the woman didn't wake.

"She's my sister, Lola," the witch explained, and Merlin just nodded.

Merlin tried to put down Arthur on a bedroll to let him sleep there, but he awoke as soon as Merlin slowly removed his arms and began to scream. At the deadly look Elsie sent him, Merlin understood that he'd better not wake her sister. So Merlin took Arthur back in his arms and carried him _again_ to the library while Elsie went to fetch them something to eat.

He put him down on a heavy carpet and, sure that Arthur wouldn't cry again, had started to look at the books, often checking to see that Arthur was still there.

Never in his whole life had he seen so many books about magic before. He wasn't even sure he would be able to read all of them if he had a week ahead of him, so a few hours seemed really, really difficult. The books hadn't any titles, which was making things worse. Merlin took some of them and opened them, curious. He discovered more spells that he had ever suspected, all in old languages. There were spells about how to clean a house as well as how to kill an army, about how to slow time and how to cook without the slightest effort. It was like everything was possible if you knew the right spell.

He would never find the one he was looking for by morning.

"So, what do you think?" Elsie asked, entering the tent.

"That's amazing," Merlin confessed. "And a little creepy. Do you remember where you saw the spell which was supposed to make princes grow up?"

Elsie nodded and took a book from the very top of the library. She opened it and quickly read some pages before throwing it (Merlin felt indignant, but didn't say anything), and took another. She checked five before she finally found the one she was looking for.

"Here, that's one!" she said. She turned the pages until she found the one which interested them and was about to give him the book, but stopped. "You would help me, right?"

"Yes! I already told you I would."

"How can I tell that you're not lying?"

"Well, I think we don't really have other choices than trusting each other, do we?" Merlin asked, a little impatient.

Elsie didn't give him the book. She was suspicious all of a sudden, and Merlin finally sighed.

"What can I do to assure you I'm not lying?"

"An oath."

Merlin raised his eyebrows, but eventually agreed. "Well, I promise I will protect your sister, your nephew and yourself from Uther. On my honor."

"That's not enough."

"I can't do better, can I?"

Elsie shook her head, stubborn, and put down the book on the table far from Merlin's hand before grabbing a paper. She quickly wrote something on it, whispered a few words which made the paper glow, before giving him her quill pen.

"Sign it."

"What is it?" Merlin asked.

She didn't answer. He took the paper and read it.

"_I, Emrys, swears that I will do everything I can to help Elisabeth and Lola the druidesses as well as Lola's child to be, until they release me from my oath. May my magic been taken from me if I'm lying."_

Merlin didn't like it. At all. Swearing on his magic was making him nervous and he didn't dare think of how it would be to lose it. He'd rather die. Seriously.

"_Sign it._"

"What if I break the oath?"

"Then you would lose your magic! Now sign it, Emrys, if you're not a liar!"

"I'm not!"

He quickly glanced at Arthur who was looking at them both, and eventually nodded and signed. He shivered a little while putting down the quill pen, closing his eyes for a bit. Hell, it felt like signing a contract with the Demon himself!

He opened his eyes and Elsie gave him the book.

"Thank you," he whispered.

"You're welcome."

**oOoOo**

Gaius was nervous. He'd hardly slept more than three or four hours in the night, awaking at every little noise, hoping it would be Merlin. He hadn't seen him since the boy had to escape from his window and it was only knowing than no-one had asked to search for him that was comforting him.

It was five at the morning the moment he gave up having a little more rest. He restarted tidying the room, not knowing what to do with his hands, and did a few potions he would have to distribute in the day. He did them all, then some made groats that Merlin, Arthur and the women could eat at their return, until he had nothing left to do and sat down.

He hoped his boy was fine. He didn't know what he would do if Merlin was in trouble – what he would be able to do. If only Merlin would be nice enough to avoid trouble, at least one week, how sweet that would be.

Gaius lifted his head as he heard a door's noise and felt his whole body relax the moment Merlin's head appeared through it. He stood up immediately.

"Merlin, for God's sake, come in, come in!"

Merlin shyly smiled, nodded and came in. Arthur was in his arms and he still was a baby.

"Did you find what you were looking for?"

"Yes," Merlin whispered while putting down a bag Gaius didn't recognize: "There's a potion which might help and I brought back some books."

"_You bring back magic-books in Camelot when Uther's looking everywhere?_" Gaius asked. There was no way that his protégé was so dumb, was it?

"That's okay, I will leave them in the Dragon's cave, and he already searched there, didn't he?"

Merlin looked around him, uncomfortable. Even if all had been cleaned, there was some obvious signs of the soldier's passage, and a lot of things had been broken. Merlin looked back at the library he had broken himself and bit his lip.

"I'm sorry about your library, Gaius. I will fix it very soon, don't worry."

"Well if you do that, don't use magic. Now give me Arthur," the old man sighed before taking Arthur from him. "Where's the woman? I thought she had to come back with you and her sister?"

"Her sister's pregnant, she couldn't travel the road on the back of a running horse," Merlin explained. "They won't be back for a few days, the time for me to prepare things and to cure Arthur."

Gaius nodded, looking at the baby. He preferred it that way, he didn't really like the woman.

Arthur looked exhausted, just as Merlin, but was calm. Which was weird, since they already saw that the baby didn't like Merlin at all. Gaius sat and put down Arthur on his knees, giving him a bit of groats that the baby began eating with his hands.

"You didn't bewitched him again, did you?" Gaius asked, suspicious.

"Of course not!"

"Because if you did-"

"_Gaius_! I didn't! I swear!"

"Merlin-"

"He, he likes me now!"

Gaius frowned and looked at Arthur. The baby didn't pay him any attention, concentrated at eating, covering his clothes and his whole face with food.

"And how do you explain that?" Gaius asked, skeptical.

"Nothing new, Arthur always had been a bit disturbed," Merlin smiled before a handful of groats hit him right in the face.

Gaius blinked in surprise and looked down at the baby. Arthur _smirked_ and started to eat again, looking innocent. But that was all lies. Merlin knew better than that. He was caught in surprise a bit before cleaning himself.

"I think he's conscious," he eventually said, "and that he remembers. He calmed down the moment I made an orb of light I used to do when I was a child."

"The same you did to save him?"

"Well, I've no memories of that, but according to what you told me, yes, that one!"

Gaius looked worried. He glanced at Arthur and mechanically began to caress his blond hair.

"That can't be good," he finally said.

"Why not? Gaius, I've been thinking about it all the way back to Camelot. If he knows and if he stopped trying to kick me any chance he gets, maybe... maybe that's just okay! Maybe he's accepting me the way I am."

"Yes, or maybe he thought more clever to wait for him to become a young man again before trying once again to kill you."

Merlin paled and looked at Arthur. He bit his lips and said nothing, his face swathed with worry. What if Gaius was right? Of course for now it was all supposition, but what if Gaius was right? Merlin didn't want to face his friend looking at him with anger, he didn't want to have to bear the hate in Arthur's eyes. He didn't want to face cruel words, or disgust. He was not a coward, for all the things he had already done which needed bravery, he refused to think of himself as a coward. But that thought was scaring him, and he would prefer to face any mystical beast than Arthur turning his back on him. Or trying to kill him, for that matter.

Arthur lifted his eyes to catch his. He smiled, took another handful of groats and threw it right at Merlin's face again before bursting out laughing. Gaius did his best to hide his smile.

**oOoOo**

Gaius let Merlin sleep for an hour only before sending him through the castle with the mission to give the potions to his patients. He wanted the boy to be seen, because even if his disappearance passed unnoticed the previous day, it was better not to tempt their luck. So no matter how tired he felt, Merlin made sure to talk to a few people and to give everyone the potion they were waiting for. Nobody really looked like very curiously at him, though, and Merlin vaguely wondered if someone even cared about where the prince's manservant was going after his master disappeared.

He quickly discovered that at least one person did.

"Merlin!"

Merlin turned his head and smiled at Gwen running toward him.

"Gwen! Hi. How are you?"

Gwen looked at him just as if he had lost his mind.

"How are you, _you_?!" She asked back. "Merlin I spend my whole day yesterday waiting for you, I didn't see you anywhere! Where were you?!"

Oh. Problems were coming, then.

"I was in the fields, fetching some plants for Gaius."

"I was waiting with Giaus! He was waiting, too!"

"Yeah, well, it took me longer than I expected," he tried.

Gwen put her hand on his arm, her face more serious than Merlin thought it should ever be. He didn't like her looking like that, it somehow was reminding him of his own nervousness.

"Merlin, don't lie to me. Where were you?"

"I told you, Gwen..."

"Don't lie to me."

It wasn't normal for Gwen to sound threatening. Gwen wasn't the threatening kind, she was supposed to be gentle and nice. A little voice in Merlin's head, weirdly sounding like Arthur's, suggested that it had to be Morgana's influence.

"I can't tell you," he gave up, uneasy.

Gwen bit her lips just as if he had proved a point she had made, then nodded and grabbed him a little tighter.

"Merlin, please, don't do anything stupid... The Knights are looking for Arthur, sooner or later they would find him. There's nothing you can do."

Merlin smiled.

"You're always underestimating me, Gwen, seriously that's a shame."

"Merlin, I'm serious-"

"I won't leave Camelot, Gwen, I swear. I'm sorry I worried you."

Gwen didn't answer. She looked as she feared she had been rude, but didn't apologize though. She blushed a little and went on.

"Morgana was worried, too. Come see us tonight, okay?"

"Gwen, seriously, I'm fine."

"Come see us, that's all. You... We don't want you to stay alone."

Merlin sighed, and then promised, "I will come. See you tonight then."

He felt grateful for Gwen and Morgana's concern about him, but there was really no use. What he really wanted was to end the day, cure Arthur, go to sleep and not open his eyes until the next day, at least.

**oOoOo**

Merlin didn't come back to Gaius's chamber before late in the afternoon. Since Arthur wasn't there anymore, people expected him to have the time to give a hand everywhere. And as he didn't have an excuse good enough to avoid it, he had to help in the kitchen and in the stables before being allowed to go to the field, looking for plants he would need to cure Arthur.

What he discovered in the book wasn't really a spell, it was a potion. Merlin never did one before, so it was scaring him a little, but at this point he didn't really have a choice. The ingredients were quite basic and no one would need for him to go at some improbable place or to risk his life as Arthur had to before, but a spell was needed at the very end of it to make the whole thing work. It was quite simple, in fact, and Merlin wished the Dragon had just told him. But no, that was just so much fun to let Merlin try hard and screw his brain out to find a solution, what need to help, really?

Arthur was awake the moment Merlin came back and looked perfectly fine. He was playing with Gaius, laughing at the faces the old man was making for him. The eyebrow seemed to be a lot of fun, according to his laughs, and even if Gaius tried to regain his seriousness when he saw Merlin, he was smiling as well.

Merlin smiled back and went to sit.

"How are you?" Gaius gently asked.

"Tired," Merlin confessed. "But it's okay. I've everything for Arthur, I need to do the potion, it wouldn't take me very long. Gwen and Morgana asked for me in the evening, so I will go to them before I give the potion to Arthur," he laughed, mostly from exhaustion. "That way, if he kills me, I would have had a chance to say good bye, right?"

"Stop talking nonsense."

Merlin smiled and closed his eyes for a bit, his chin resting on his palm.

Finally, he was seeing the end of it.

*

Okay I'm sorry I've been so SLOW to write AGAIN /o/;

Now every chapter will have a short resume and a preview for what's happening next ; ) See you next chapter!

*

**PREVIEW : #07- And don't talk to strangers.**

"What's happening? Why is he screaming? Merlin?!"

**oOoOo**

"William. That's a good name, don't you think? Will, William... Yes, definitely. William."


	7. And don't talk to strangers

**A baby at Camelot**

_(Previously on "A baby at Camelot": Merlin turned Arthur into a baby by accident, and neither the Dragon nor his magic book seem to be able to help him. He's stuck with a very angry Arthur until a thirty-year-old druid called Elsie catches him and offer help against protection for her and her family. Despite Uther's soldiers looking everywhere, they manage to run away from Camelot at nightfall to go to Elsie's village and take other magic books there. They separate after Merlin made a magic oath to Elsie and he comes back to Camelot alone with a potion formula which will hopefully turn Arthur back to himself.)_

**#07 – And don't talk to strangers.**

When Gwen invited Merlin to join Morgana and herself in the evening, Merlin already knew that Morgana would ask questions and give him looks to convince him to confess whatever she wanted him to. That was one of her royal powers.

Merlin suspected that every royal head had a sort of royal superpower. Nothing like magic, of course, but a sort of ability that only they knew and which was especially used to impress people. For example, Uther was able to make anybody feel guilty with just one look, no matter if someone had done something or not; Arthur was able to make you want to give him the best of yourself, and Morgana... Well. Morgana was able to make you do exactly what she wanted you to do, to make you confess anything without you even noticing.

If he wanted to avoid trouble, he'd better think about what he would tell her before going. He had thought about it while preparing the potion for Arthur but hadn't really been able to find out something that could work. The fact that he had to stop Arthur every two minutes from touching every single bottle or jar didn't help neither. The blonde baby was nicely seated on the floor upon a blanket and smiling at him. When Merlin looked down at what he was doing, Arthur was silently sneaking elsewhere to do whatever stupid things he hadn't done yet.

It was nightfall by the time Merlin was done and he left Arthur in Gaius' hands before going to Morgana's chambers.

Gwen answered him and Merlin hadn't the chance to say anything when Morgana grabbed his arm and made him come inside. Gwen quickly shut the door. _This can't be good_, Merlin thought.

"Where were you?" Morgana asked immediately in a tone of authority, and Merlin felt his hopes to subtly avoid the subject evaporate.

"I had something to do," he answered, "I'm sorry I worried you Milady."

"Don't play that game with me Merlin. I know you, you're Arthur's friend and we are as well. So don't pretend to me."

"Morgana..."

He looked at Gwen standing behind her but didn't find any help. The maid's face was calm even if he could see her shoulders were tense, and she too was keeping her gaze fixed on him.

He felt his jaw twitching involuntarily and looked back at Morgana.

What should he say? Despite himself, his own worries came back to him. The chance that Arthur might forget after he fixed him was quite doubtful, and whatever his reaction would be, it would change everything. Arthur was often oblivious, and other times a bit stupid, yes, but Merlin knew it wouldn't be that simple this time. He didn't know where he was going, but facing Morgana and Gwen right now was absolutely nothing compared to the thought of facing Arthur soon.

Everything would be different, and that thought was scary. Merlin had often wondered what would be Arthur's reaction if he knew, but now he knew that _this _conversation was coming, he just wanted to find a hole somewhere and hide in it for at least one year or two.

"You were gone to find Arthur, weren't you?" Morgana asked again after a long time of silence.

"As I told you, Milady," he repeated with a calm he didn't know he had, "I had something to do."

"We don't want you to do anything stupid, Merlin, we are serious. We know you're Arthur's most loyal servant, and whatever this idiot says, we know you are his dearest friend." Merlin smiled at Morgana's words, but said nothing. "Nevertheless, there is nothing you can do, this time it is a sorcerer doing it. A sorcerer, Merlin, and no matter how brave and loyal you might be, you're just a servant. Only the knights can find a way to sort it out, so I'm asking you to stay out of it, as your friend."

Merlin looked down and nodded without answering. There were no point arguing. Morgana's hand came to rest on his arm and he looked back at her to face and into her worried eyes.

"Arthur will come back, I know he will," she muttered. "But if there's a day he learns that something happened to you while trying to help him, he won't forgive himself for it. He won't, Merlin."

Merlin nodded again. He couldn't tell if he felt glad or saddened by Morgana's certitude.

**oOoOo**

The way back to his chambers was too quick. Merlin didn't really hurry, though, he spent the most time he could to return, but soon there was no one to talk on his way and he found himself in front of Gaius' door.

Now was the moment. Soon he would be facing Arthur and the consequences of two years' of lying; soon he would know which was the strongest in Arthur's heart between their relationship and the King's law. He didn't want to know, he absolutely didn't want to know that question's answer.

He felt nearly sick with anguish and exhaustion and forced himself to open the door. Gaius was sitting on a chair with Arthur on his arms, facing the door. Arthur was asleep. Merlin's eyes met Gaius' and he silently nodded, unable to say anything.

He went to the table and took the potion he had done before leaving. The colour had changed and was now a dark purple, but it was normal according to the book. Merlin did the potion right. He closed his eyes and whispered the final spell, ignoring his fear, and opened them again to see the potion slightly boiling.

It was ready.

Taking a deep breath, he took a chair and sat in front of Gaius.

"You can wake him up now," he muttered.

Gaius looked at him, slightly smiling in what Merlin was sure was an attempt to comfort him.

"Don't worry," he said, "everything will be fine."

It sounded genuine enough to allow Merlin to think it was true. Gaius lowered his eyes to Arthur and gently nudged his shoulder. The baby groaned and cried a bit as he slowly woke up, but stopped quite quickly. He looked at Merlin and then at Gaius, not understanding what was going on but obviously understanding that it was serious.

Merlin hesitated, trying to smile at him and then kissed him on the head. It would be the very last time he would be allowed to show such a sign of affection to Arthur, never mind if it ended good or bad.

"Here, drink this," he said to him, giving him the potion.

Arthur grimaced but drank a gulp of the potion Merlin was presenting to him. The taste might've been awful, Merlin guessed as he didn't want to drink more when he started whining, and he had to comfort him with gentle words and smiles. Arthur didn't look happy at all but eventually drank the entire potion.

Nothing happened.

Gaius and Merlin shared a look. Arthur moaned and cried a bit, obviously upset, before burying his face back against Gaius belly and trying to go back to sleep. They waited ten long minutes, but nothing happened at all except for Arthur's soft snores.

"I don't understand," Merlin eventually confessed, lifting to check the potion's formula in the book, "I'm sure I did everything as it was told! I'm _sure_!"

He checked anyway but didn't find any error. He had done everything religiously!

"Maybe I confused two plants?" he suggested, trying to find out an explanation.

"No, I checked, every plant you used were the ones needed in the formula," Gaius answered.

"_Why isn't it working then?!!_" Merlin almost shouted.

All of it was getting on his nerves. He regretted his urge to shout the moment it came out of his mouth, but he couldn't avoid it. It was just unfair! He needed it to end! All of this, Arthur being a baby, this life of lies, he thought it was over but it wasn't, because the bloody potion just didn't work!

"Merlin," Gaius said, "It's late now, and you haven't sleep for two days. So take Arthur with you and go to bed. We will think about it tomorrow and find another solution. Don't worry."

Merlin nodded and took Arthur without waking him up. That bloody druid, she had fooled into signing a magic pact! And now he was stuck with his oath with nothing in return; he had to watch after two more people. Merlin wasn't the kind to get angry easily, but right now he felt furious.

"Good night Gaius," he said before going to his chamber.

"Good night Merlin."

Merlin gently put Arthur down on his bed. He took off his boots, removed his jacket and his neckerchief and changed his clothes into his nightclothes before going to bed, carefully putting Arthur on his chest. The baby was breathing peacefully and Merlin caressed his hair. He placed his hand on Arthur's back and forced himself to calm down. The tiredness quickly won over the anger and eventually he fell asleep.

**oOoOo**

It was only a few hours later when a slight cry woke him up. Still half-dreaming, Merlin gently caressed Arthur's back to try to calm him, hoping for a little more rest. He regretfully opened his eyes when the crying didn't stop and put his hand on Arthur's bottom to check if his nappy needed to be changed again. It didn't.

"Arthur what's going on...? Are you hungry? Want something?"

The cries didn't calm at all and soon Arthur was screaming with pain. Merlin felt completely awake by now and was about to sit up, but stopped, frozen. Arthur was growing. His limbs were slowly becoming bigger and the clothes he had been wearing were tearing up as they become too small for his body. His fists were clenched and he sounded in such an awful pain that it made Merlin nearly panic. He sat up, Arthur resting on his legs, draping his arms around him, looking around as if he would suddenly find something to relieve the pain.

"It's okay, it's gonna be okay, it's nearly done.. Hold on Arthur, it's okay..." he whispered.

"Merlin?" Gaius' voice interrupted. ""What's happening? Why is he screaming? Merlin?!"

The old man pushed the door open, looking terrified, and froze on the spot. Arthur was totally naked by now and had reached the size of a child. He had grabbed Merlin shirt and buried his face against his shoulder, screaming without control.

"The potion worked," Gaius whispered.

Merlin didn't pay him attention. He felt almost sick by the blond boy's cries and just wished it would stop, because hearing Arthur in such a pain was unbearable and he couldn't think of anything to help. Arthur was becoming heavy by now and his body had just passed from one of a ten-year-old child to one of a teenager's. He hadn't moved from Merlin's grip and Merlin hadn't release him neither, they were both holding on for dear life and nothing in the world could have convinced Merlin to let him go at this moment. Gaius had left at some point and Merlin prayed that he would be back with something which would help.

The whole transformation took no longer than one minute, even though it felt like an eternity.

Eventually Arthur stopped screaming, his forehead resting on Merlin's shoulder and his body motionless, as if empty of any strength. Breathing heavily, Merlin kept one of his arms around Arthur's shoulders and a hand in his hair, encouraging him to stay against him. Arthur was totally naked and fully pressed against him, and no matter how wrong it was, Merlin just refused to let him go. He couldn't see Arthur's face right now but didn't want to, he just wanted to keep him between his arms like this. It felt good, it felt more right than anything, and right now Merlin was shivering while rubbing the Prince's back. He wanted to kiss his head, his jaw, his bare shoulder; he wanted to lie down on the bed and pull Arthur on him, to spend the rest of the night holding him like this. He didn't want to hear Arthur's voice, he didn't want the Prince to escape their hold.

Arthur moved a little, as if slowly recovering his mind and strength, and Merlin tightened his grip.

He kissed him on the head, unable to stop himself, whispering, "It's over, you're safe now. It's all okay."

Arthur relaxed, giving up moving right now, and Merlin closed his eyes. He slowly lied back on the mattress without removing his arms and felt the weight of Arthur's chest against him, of his pelvis on him. It shouldn't have felt this way. Merlin shouldn't be aware of every inch of Arthur's skin touching him, the anguish in his belly shouldn't be mixed with... with... whatever it was.

Arthur moved again and Merlin took the blanket to recover him, to warm him up. Arthur had to stay here, against him. Merlin knew the prince wasn't asleep, but he hoped he would, he desperately wanted to stay this way for the night.

Gaius returned, obviously coming back from a run, with a bottle in his hand. He stopped at the door and Merlin just nodded. It was okay. Gaius looked puzzled but nodded back and closed the door.

Merlin turned his eyes to Arthur. His body was motionless again and Merlin guessed he had fallen asleep. Merlin kissed his head and shoulder. He let his hand caress the prince's back and breathed in his hair, eyes closed.

He didn't think at all about how wrong it was, he just believed he would never be allowed to do that again. With Arthur's weight on him, he didn't think that maybe tomorrow the prince would sentence him to death; he just thought his life was Arthur's anyway.

The prince was breathing slowly now and Merlin felt his heart beating madly. Arthur was back. He could smell the perfume of his hair, the strength of his muscles under his fingers, the warmth of his naked skin. It felt like the most wrong and the most right thing in the world at the same time.

He didn't allow himself to think too much. He kept his eyes shut and let Arthur's presence surround him.

**oOoOo**

When he woke up at morning, Arthur was gone. The blanket had been carefully put back on him and the room was empty. Merlin blinked slowly, trying to remember which day it was and to guess the hour, before the memories of the night hit him. He got up more quickly than he ever had and ran towards the door and opening it.

"Gaius! Where's Arthur?!"

Gaius was sitting in a chair, his back turned on him. He twisted his head to look at him and Merlin saw the little boy standing in front of Gaius. He looked about five-years-old, with light blond hair and bright blue eyes. His top lip was a bit forward and his nose was straight already. He was wearing one of Merlin's shirts which was big enough to cover him from the shoulders to his knees, and there were two pairs of socks on his feet to protect him from the cold ground.

Merlin didn't need to be a genius to understand.

"No," he said.

No, no, no. No way. All of this was supposed to be over, he had Arthur in his arms last night! The adult Arthur! He had his weight on him! So that just couldn't be right, thank you very much! Joke over.

"You better take a seat Merlin," Gaius sighed.

Merlin did that. It sounded like a brilliant idea, indeed.

"What happened?" he asked.

The little boy was silent and staring at them both, and Merlin wondered if it was normal for a child this age to act like this.

"I went to your room again this morning," Gaius explained. "He was still an adult. I came to wake him so we could talk and he followed me here, he looked groggy and... Well. He turn back into a child a few minutes after. And now he just refuses to say a word."

Merlin eyes met Arthur's. The boy was standing as straight as he was able too, but something about him was uneasy, as if he wasn't exactly sure of what he was supposed to do.

Merlin took his hands and smiled at him, trying to be comforting.

"Hi. Don't be afraid, that's okay..."

"I'm not afraid," Arthur replied immediately. His voice was a bit keen, as every boy his age, but he indeed didn't look afraid.

Merlin nodded. He looked at Gaius a bit before returning to Arthur. Okay, whatever the mess was with the potion, there were few things they needed to know.

"What do you remember?"

Arthur opened his mouth. He looked at them both and chewed his lips for a whole minute before finally asking : "What?"

Merlin kept his eyes on him. It was very important that they knew and he didn't want to scare Arthur.

"What do you remember? Do you remember me?"

"... No," Arthur said after a bit, looking more and more hesitant. "Sorry," he added.

"Do you remember your name?" Merlin asked.

Arthur opened his mouth again, but closed it quickly, then opened it again. "I'm not sure..."

Okay. So Arthur remembered nothing and Merlin had been nearly becoming crazy about the whole thing for no reason. Fine. Perfect. All of this was really _perfect_! How much he _hated_ his life sometimes!

**oOoOo**

"What are we supposed to do now?" Merlin asked in a whisper, looking at Arthur eating his breakfast a few feet from them.

"I don't know," Gaius confessed, "Throw out the nappies and find some new clothes for him, I guess. God, we're lucky I saved enough money."

"We also should find him a name."

"He already has a name, Merlin, what are you talking about?"

"Yes, but... he can't stay in this room forever, right? He's a little boy now, not a baby! He will go outside at some point. And isn't it a little too rash to call him Arthur? He already looks like him Gaius, look at his mouth, the shape of his face! People would guess."

"So what do you suggest?"

Merlin remained silent for a long time looking at the boy, before whispering again, "We need to find him a name, at least for now."

Gaius didn't look pleased with the idea but had to agree anyway. If they were honest, there weren't many other options.

"William." Merlin whispered again "That's a good name, don't you think? Will, William... Yes, definitely. William."

Gaius turned his head back to the boy. Arthur lifted his eyes and smiled shyly at them, his mouth full of cereal.

* * *

**Preview - #08**

"Yes, I was right and you were wrong, we know that," the Dragon sighed before looking Merlin with intrigue, "Now go back to that part when Arthur is naked and with you in your bed and you're feeling so _weird_ and _aroused_. What happened next? _Please_ tell me you didn't just fall asleep."

* * *

**Reviews are cookies **


	8. We call it Denial

Sherlock Holmes tends to kidnapp me those days :(

And also, I posted a one shot ;)

**A baby at Camelot**

**#08 – We call it Denial.**

They soon decided not to say anything to Arthur, not about Merlin's magic nor about the fact that he was the missing prince of this very castle where they lived. Because even if Arthur was not a baby anymore, he still was a _kid_, which was sort of worse. Kids his age talked a lot about everything and wouldn't mind trading a secret for a candy or treat. So really it was better to tell Arthur nothing. He could have gone and told someone, maybe the King himself, and the thought of this was enough to make Merlin shiver. What an unpleasant way it would be to die, betrayed by Arthur without the prince even knowing what he was doing. The most stupid way ever to get caught, after all the times he did manage to keep his magic secret.

So they wouldn't tell anything to Arthur, and make him believe his name was William (yeah, because Merlin had never been _very_ creative with names. He had thought of it because he had considered giving his future child his best friend's name, if he ever had a child.)

This way, if Arthur remembered these last few days of his childhood once Merlin _had _sort the mess out, Arthur wouldn't bother himself with the magic part to know if he would spare Merlin or not. No.

No, he would just kill him without a second thought for having let him do what he was doing now.

"Okay William, that was very funny but that's enough! Now stop it and come here!" he tried again.

"You can't stop meeee" Arthur exclaimed, grinning and running across the room, _almost fully naked for God's sake!_

His shyness really hadn't last long. At first, Merlin thought that Arthur would be the the kind who was polite and well bred, as noble people were supposed to be. But no, _ho ho, NO_. Obviously he was more the "_Hiiiiiiii, look at meeeeeee, I'm running everywhere only wearing sooooooocks!!!_"-kind.

Merlin had asked Arthur to give him back the shirt he was wearing so he could give him another one smaller. At first Arthur obeyed, but then seemed to be more interested by his navel sticking out of his his belly than by dressing in anything else. He poked it a few times before asking Merlin to show him his, and then escaped the moment Merlin tried to dress him. And now it was the "catch me if you can" game.

Very amusing indeed.

Merlin certainly wasn't going to let a little child screw up his mood, he already had a lot to think about, so he would appreciate if Arthur would be nice enough to stay calm. He trapped Arthur in a corner and seized him, making the child burst into laughter. Merlin stuck him under his arm and carried him into his room. Arthur squirmed and giggled, but allowed Merlin to dress him. Merlin gave him the smallest shirt he had. He will have to find a solution about the clothes problem, _again_.

"You have funny ears," Arthur giggled.

"And you have funny teeth," Merlin answered without thinking.

Arthur hid his mouth behind his hand and laughed a bit more. Merlin smiled as well.

oOoOo

Merlin left Arthur with Gaius to give himself time to prepare things for Elsie's return. He really wasn't sure about the role the druid played and if he had been fooled or not, but since he made an oath to her, he had to help her anyway. The soldiers were still looking around the castle and in the surrounding villages, but Merlin felt more secure now. He would just hide the women in the Dragon's cave since _that_ _was_ the most efficient way to protect them and the Dragon had said nothing against it when Merlin asked him for permission.

He thought about just leaving them there to handle the situation alone, not knowing if they were friends or foes, but his concern for the pregnant woman all because of his stupid heart finally won.

Merlin went inside the huge cave and walked down to the river, trying to find a place where he could do something to welcome them. The place was huge, maybe bigger than the whole castle itself, but what was important was to find somewhere impossible to see from the entrance. It took him a while before he discovered such a place, and only then did he start to sculpt a house in the stone.

Well, something like a house anyway.

There were little refuges built by large rocks in the forest around Ealdor, which were made for travellers or lost people, and that was vaguely what Merlin had in his mind. Merlin and Will slept in one of them once and he remembered the mattress made by a plate rock. It wasn't comfortable, but those refuges were made to save you from the rain or from animals at night. The two women won't have to fear any of it, of course (well, except for the Dragon, but Merlin hardly thought that a roof would help if the beast decided to attack them) but hopefully it would feel more cozy for them if he found a way to bring back some blankets.

"When will you finally learn not to get involved in others' lives, young warlock, for that, I'm desperate to know," the Dragon sighed, looking bored.

Merlin quickly glanced at him. "I hardly had a choice," he pointed out, trying to adjust the roof.

"You perfectly had a choice. I advised you against it."

"Did you?" Merlin replied, raising his eyebrows. "Because that's really hard to know when you're giving advice. You're very clear when it's about telling me how I'm an idiot, but when it's about helping me, you're not very specific, I've to say."

"And that is because you're not wise enough to understand my words, Merlin."

"No _actually_ I would say it's because you really enjoy making a mess out of my mind with your riddles."

The Dragon didn't answer and Merlin tried to concentrate on what he was doing. He had finished putting a roof on the top of the house he created, which now had two places to sleep, a table and two chairs sculpted out of rock. What was he forgetting?

"The oath I talked to you about, do you think it would really work? I mean... I can't lose my magic just like that, can I?"

"Do you intend to take back your word?"

"No! No, I swear I'm not saying I was lying! I wouldn't!"

"Then you shouldn't let that idea worry you. You have other matters to think about which are more _important_."

Merlin frowned, he couldn't see what on earth could be more important than that. He was suspicious about the dragon who kept looking at him curiously since he had told him what happened. Merlin was sure the creature desperately wanted to say or to ask something. He went on nevertheless.

"It's just, I... what good will I be if I don't have my magic anymore? I can't even imagine that! I'm helping them, truly I am, and I would even without that oath. But what if I fail and my magic is taken away from me? I just can't stand the idea, _I can't!_ I would be useless for Arthur and-"

"Trusting people and doing stupid things are both your weakness and your strength, young warlock. Which explains a lot, I should say."

"_What's wrong with you today? _I'm telling you that there are chances of me losing my magic, chances I won't be able to protect Arthur anymore, and you don't even look like you care! Isn't the Albion destiny an obsession for you? Because may I remind you, Arthur is still _five years old_ right now! I'm quite sure I told you about it!"

"Yes, yes you told me, but he turned into an adult before, _yes_?" Was the Dragon's tail actually _wriggling_ or was Merlin imagining it?

"Yes..." he answered carefully, "But the druid potion didn't work very long..."

"Yes, I was right and you were wrong, we know that," the Dragon sighed before looking down at Merlin with intrigue, "But go back to that part when Arthur is naked and with you in your bed and you're feeling so _weird_ and _aroused_. What happened next? _Please_ tell me you didn't just fall asleep."

Merlin's mouth fell open, but he failed to make a single noise. The Dragon's huge eyes stayed fixed on him, and _yes_, his tail was wriggling. There was no way that he heard what he just heard. Impossible. He stammered uselessly for a few seconds, feeling his ears slowly but surely burning, and the Dragon kept _staring at_ him!

"I- _I didn't_! When on EARTH did I say I was-? Because I wasn't-! I don't know when I gave you the idea that I was because- No! No no no! I mean NO!"

"_Come on_ you know you were," the Dragon insisted.

"WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU?! I'M TELLING YOU I WASN'T!"

Merlin was _sure_ his face was as red as his neckerchief, and the fact that he, for some unknown reason, felt nearly overwhelmed with panic and anger didn't help at all.

"Right, you weren't," the Dragon sighed and _rolled his eyes_ "If you prefer it that way-"

"_It's not I prefer it that way, it's just that I wasn't!_" Merlin spluttered.

"So maybe you would be kind enough to tell me a bit more detail about what happened? Hm?"

"I hardly see how this is any of your business!" Merlin shouted in a voice that was very intimidating. He hoped the Dragon would just stop talking about it and leave him alone.

But, as Merlin was starting to learn, you can't always have everything you want in life.

"You're a young man in perfect health and the future King is quite good-looking, isn't he?" the Dragon went on carefully. "You shouldn't think that's an evil thing to talk about. I already know a lot of your secrets, it doesn't bother me if we're having a chat about it. I'm sure you want to share what's in your heart with someone. It must be very heavy to bear, all that unrequited..."

"... Did you just say that? Don't end that sentence. Seriously don't."

"You know I'm telling the truth."

"No, I know you turned insane just a few minutes ago. Did something happen when I wasn't looking? Did I miss a sorcerer coming in, put a spell on you and then go away? I think I missed that part."

"You don't need to be all defensive."

"I'm_ not _all defensive! For _Heaven's sake_, I'm not- I'm not _gay_, I'm not into men, okay? And I'm certainly not into _Arthur_!"

"So you didn't react at all when he was on you, all _naked_?"

But wouldn't the Dragon just _stop_ about it? Merlin opened his mouth a few times, helplessly, before hissing.

"_You_... You _realize_ you have a problem, don't you?"

"Well my problem has always been that I know too much, and yours is that you don't know enough. Food for thought, young warlock."

oOoOo

Gwen was worried. She often was, so that was nothing very new of course, because people around her seemed to like getting themselves into trouble. Arthur was often risking his life in big fights, Morgana was having nightmares almost every night and Merlin was a bit too eager to put himself in danger in the name of Arthur.

Gwen's life was quite simple, she rarely had any trouble herself, but that was not the case of the people she cared for. And so Gwen was always worrying.

Most of the time, when all seemed to be fine, her worry was nearly undetectable. She was smiling and talking as everyone was, and there was no reason to share a look or a word of concern with anyone. So it was a bit odd that she felt worried anyway, but she did. It was a slight burden on her lungs, a little knot into her stomach, a strange impression felt in her throat when it was a bit tighter than it should be. Because she knew her friends, she knew their lives, and she knew that sooner or later something will happen, something bad, because it never seemed to stop.

Gwen did not panic and wasn't easily surprised. She often felt lost, though, and didn't know what to do to help when one of her friends was in danger. It was not as if she could do anything, of course, but she wished she could.

Now Arthur had disappeared, she knew Merlin wouldn't agree to stay alone and do nothing. She was awfully worried for Arthur (she didn't dare imagine what happened to him and if he was still alive or not, or tortured) and for Merlin as well. It was consuming her, truly it was, and even if she didn't cry, she always had the urge to. The only thing which was comforting her was that Morgana hadn't any bad dreams about Arthur in prison or dead, neither had she of Merlin, killed by the hand of the same sorcerer who might have kidnapped the Prince.

She hoped Merlin would follow Morgana's advice; she didn't want to lose him after having already lost her father and Arthur.

Pressing her lips together tightly, Gwen shook her head, trying not to think about it. She needed to keep a clear mind, for panicking and worrying never helped before, and it wouldn't this time. She took a deep breath and turned into the corridor, going toward the kitchen to bring back Morgana's lunch. Her mistress had hardly eaten this time again, which was not helping Gwen's mood.

Merlin appearing out of nowhere, though, helped.

"Merlin!" she called out to him.

He was at the opposite side of the corridor, coming from the door which gave entrance to the kitchen and the dungeons. He lifted his head when he heard her and smiled awkwardly. He didn't look well. She quickened her pace and stopped in front of him.

"Merlin," she repeated, "Are you okay?"

"Yes, yes. Great day indeed. You?"

Gwen frowned. "I'm... fine, I guess. Something happened?"

"Nothing. Just... an argument with someone. It was stupid." He remained silent for a moment before asking: "Does that ever happen to you too, people talking to you as if they know you better than you do yourself, or is it just me? I mean, I know myself right?"

"...Right," she answered, not sure what he was talking about.

"And it's not because you're talking about a few things to someone that all of a sudden he knows all about you! He doesn't know me! I mean, what I'm doing with my life really isn't other people's business, right? I'm fine the way I am, I don't need others to judge me!"

"Yeah, sure," Gwen agreed, confused.

"Do you think there's something weird about me?" Merlin asked.

"I'm not sure I understand what you mean..."

He looked upset and Gwen was not used to seeing him in such a state. Though his mood had nothing to do with the one she thought he would be in, the 'let's save Arthur even if it costs my life' mood, which was both comforting and troubling.

Merlin sighed and looked away, pressing his lips together before shrugging with a false nonchalance.

"Well, I don't know anything. The way I'm acting with people..."

"You're very kind with everyone," Gwen smiled, "that's not weird. I wish there were more people like you."

"No, I mean... With guys... women. Do you think I'm... That people might think that I'm... well, you know."

"Oh!" Gwen exclaimed, finally understanding. "Gay? Well, not that I dare to tell anyone, but Morgana and I knew already, yes. I think Arthur too," She touched Merlin's arm gently. "But you shouldn't let anyone talk to you badly about it. There's nothing to be ashamed of, Merlin. It's the way you are, and we love you that way. You're an adorable man, and if people can't stand it, they are not worth your attention. Okay?"

Merlin opened his mouth, a little pale. When he failed to answer, Gwen gave his arm a comforting squeeze. "Alright?" she repeated.

"Alright," he croaked.

She smiled gently and kissed him on the cheek. It was good that he was talking about it now.

Gwen gave Merlin a look and hesitated before she dared to add. "Though... I think you should... Well... maybe it would be better not to insist too much about... you know."

"Arthur?"

"Yes," she nodded, "Understand me well, I'm not thinking you're not worth him, you really are. But... people might not understand, and even if I know that Arthur cares a great deal about you, I'm not sure he... Well. He's the prince. He has duties. You're his best friend, Merlin, whatever he would say, and certainly if he hadn't been a prince things would have been easier, but..."

Merlin buried his face in his hands and she almost winced at the sight.

"Merlin?"

"I'm okay. I just... I need to go. To see Gaius."

"Oh. Yeah, sure. See you later then."

He nodded and passed along her, heading back to Gaius' chambers.


	9. Ride to the kitchen

Okay, so yeah, this chapter has taken me forever, I'm very, very sorry D: I had written it once, but then I didn't like it that much so I erased it all, and re-wrote it all again. I hope there's still people reading this who have been patient enough! Chapter 10 should be quicker to come, I promise!

**A baby at Camelot**

**#09 – Ride into the kitchen**

To live with a five years old child was not half as easy as Merlin thought it would be. Not that he expected anything, what with never having been in charge of a little child before. Though, now that Arthur was old enough to eat alone and not risk his neck if he appeared to fall on the ground by accident, Merlin would have hoped that things would be a little easier.

He was, of course, quite wrong.

Arthur was a very sweet but very _active_ boy. It was a little less than a week now since he had transformed and if he had seemed to be a little shy at first, this phase was definitely over now. He wouldn't stay still for more than five minutes, at which point the boredom overtook him and he _had_ to do something – and often it was something childish and stupid, as could be expected from any little boy, like to try and make a cake with Gaius' medical potions.

Merlin tried his best to entertain him the best he could, he really did. But there was little time for that. No matter how much he would have preferred to stay with Arthur he had to handle all the other consequences of the situation. True, Arthur was not always easy, but Merlin knew most of his monkey business was natural and probably due to the fact that he was a five years old child stuck inside with only adults for company. Merlin felt guilty for that, but still couldn't bring himself to allow Arthur to go out, though he knew that he would have to if all didn't go back to normal very soon. Arthur hadn't seemed to care very much at first, but now he was clearly bored and, more than once, Merlin had found him with his face and both his hands pressed against the windows of the bedroom they shared.

The last time, he had turned sad eyes to him, pouting in a way which would have been ridiculous on his adult form, but which wasn't at all on his childish appearance. "I want to go out," he whimpered, and it was only the fear that things might get worse if he allowed it that prevented Merlin from yielding.

"Things are a little crazy outside right now, kiddo he responded then, coming to sit on the bed near him, "But soon, I promise."

Arthur sighed and came to his side, taking his arm to hug it against his chest without looking at him, torn between sulking and trying to insist. "_You're_ out all the time," he finally said.

"I've got a lot of work to do."

He wasn't lying. After the first days during which nobody had cared about what became of him, the Steward had finally seemed to realize there was a free pair of hands now that the prince's manservant was essentially jobless. Assuming that Merlin had had enough of his unexpected days of vacation, he had found him several things to do, sending him to different quarters of the castle where help was needed. And in these days of crisis, it seemed that help was needed everywhere. The servants' work, though, certainly wasn't as hard as the guard's was at this moment. The prisons were still full of suspects and the searches hadn't stopped, neither did they seem to slow.

Merlin hadn't had much time to see Gwen, let alone Morgana. They barely passed each other and, when they did, had never more than a few minutes to chat. Gwen still looked very worried about him, but thankfully didn't bring the subject of Arthur into any of their conversations. The last thing Merlin wanted was to talk about it, the memory of the last time it happened still very fresh into his mind. He hadn't given himself time to think further on it anyway, deciding that it was absolutely ridiculous and that he had other, more urgent things, to handle.

His job and Arthur weren't the only points he had to care about, and he did his best to ignore the Dragon as well when he had to go back to the cave during the middle of the night, carrying two mattresses with magic for the two druid sisters to sleep on. They hadn't shown up yet and Merlin was beginning to worry about it. Even though he felt as if he had been tricked by Elsie, he still had signed a pact with her. If any harm came to them, he would be the one to pay the price. While he was willing to put his own body between a blade and Arthur (or any of his true friends and family, for that matter), he wasn't inclined to lose his magic just because of the tricks of a druid woman who had done nothing but blackmail him so far.

**oOoOo**

On the fifth day since Arthur's transformation, Merlin finished reading the first of the few books he had brought back with him from the village -ruining his eyes with the light of a candle at night, feeling exhausted but somehow still too agitated to actually sleep- and found nothing helpful in it.

He closed the book and pushed it aside on the table, letting a tired sigh out and closing his eyes to rub the corners. There were some really interesting potions and spells in here, some that he knew he would definitely try if – _when_ all was solved, but which were of no use at the present situation.

He sat silent, looking at the sleeping form of Gaius a few steps away from him, letting his mind stray as he took advantage of the few minutes of calm. His head turned as soon as he heard the sound of a door opening, though, and the blond head of Arthur popped shyly from his bedroom.

"Hi," Merlin whispered to not awake Gaius, "you awake?"

Arthur nodded and left the bedroom, taking the kindness of Merlin's voice for permission to step in. He carefully glanced at Gaius and went to Merlin's, climbing on his knees.

"I can't sleep," he said, careful to whisper too, "I woke and you weren't there."

"I was reading something," Merlin showed him the book, "I just finished."

"Is that a story?"

"Not really, no." Arthur seemed disappointed and bounced a bit on Merlin's knees. "You want a story?"

Arthur shrugged, rubbing his eyes. He left his head rest against Merlin's chest and looked at the door, his thumb coming naturally into his mouth. He stayed silent for sometime, blinking with tiredness as Merlin hugged him loosely.

"Why can't I go outside?" he finally asked

Merlin had closed his eyes, his chin resting on Arthur's head. The weight of the child felt warm, comfortable. "I told you already, it's not safe outside right now."

"Is that why there are so many guards in town? I saw them out the window." Merlin nodded. Arthur remained silent a time before he complained, "I don't like staying there all the time..."

"Will..."

Merlin didn't use Arthur's nickname much, neither did Gaius, though they couldn't take the risk to call him Arthur, not with the resemblance he already had to his adult form. William had been the first name to come into Merlin's mind when they needed one, but it just didn't fit him. William was his dead best friend, forever lost, he was not Arthur. They were different, the relationship he had had with them both had been totally different, but that wasn't the point anyway. The name just didn't fit, but as far as Merlin had tried, he couldn't find a single one which would have fitted.

Arthur's belly rumbled.

Merlin opened his eyes again and looked in surprise at the boy, smiling when the blond Prince blushed. "Hungry there?"

Arthur just nodded. Merlin put him down on the bench and went to the cupboard which he opened as silently as he could manage. There wasn't much left, only hard bread, some vegetables and fruits. He eyed the door, then Arthur, who was sitting quiet. He hesitated for a few seconds before he made a decision. It couldn't last forever, and now was certainly better than any other time.

"Alright, kiddo," he whispered, coming back to kneel before the child, "I'll give you some different options and you pick your favorite one, okay?" Arthur nodded. "So the first one, we've apples there, you can have one and then go back to bed with me. (Arthur seemed alright with that, but said nothing, waiting for the rest). Or, if you promise to not run anywhere, to take my hand when I tell you to and to be very silent so we won't wake anyone up, we go to the kitchen together. What do you say?"

Arthur's eyes widened in excitement and he nodded so much that Merlin feared for a moment that he would hurt his neck. "To the kitchen!" he replied at once in a whispered-shout, very awake now. Merlin giggled despite himself and nodded in acquiescence, infected by Arthur's sudden thrill. He knew boys were supposed to sleep at this hour of the night but right now he didn't care much.

"We also have to avoid the patrols," He warned as he gave his hand to Arthur, who took it at once, "People are supposed to stay at home at this time". Merlin wondered for a second if it really was a good thing that he was so used to sneaking around when he definitely wasn't supposed to and if it was a good example for a child, before deciding that it was Arthur who had begun to give him that habit anyway. He unlocked the door and peeked outside. There was nobody in sight.

"I'll be quiet!" Arthur promised.

Merlin opened the door further and let Arthur out, releasing his hand as soon as they were down the stairs. Arthur ran down the corridor at once, his light footsteps resonating against the walls and his arms up, a wild smile on his face. Merlin smiled too without even realizing it and hurried to not lose sight of the boy. Arthur seemed happier that he had been in days, and though the air was a bit too cool, it made a pleasant change from their apartment.

When he reached the courtyard, though, Merlin instantly froze and called him back, "Crap- Will, no! Not this way!"

Arthur stopped dead on the spot, turning his head to him. "But, I thought we were going outside?" he whined with great displeasure .

Merlin grimaced, the guilt coming back at Arthur's clear disappointment. He wished nothing more than to allow the child a chance to play, but the curfew was still in force and guards were making frequent rounds to check that it was respected. He gave Arthur an apologetic glance and held his hand out to him. Arthur looked over his shoulder to the way outside, stamped his feet for a moment but finally joined him, head down and looking both very angry and on the verge of crying.

"That's unfair," he moaned, taking Merlin's hand anyway.

Merlin squeezed his hand. "I promise I will try to arrange things so you can get out as soon as possible, okay?"

"Other children get to go out, it's only me who can't. Unfair."

Merlin didn't find anything to reply to that. "I'm sorry," he finally managed, "When everything is cleared up I'll take you to have a ride on a pony, sound good?"

Arthur glanced at him, seemed uncertain. "Tomorrow?" he tried.

Merlin smiled. "Maybe not tomorrow, but very, very soon."

Arthur's face darkened, clearly not believing him. He said nothing, though, and just followed, Merlin's hand in his. Merlin didn't find anything to cheer him up, and just made sure that their way was clear. He couldn't use magic in front of Arthur, at least not without taking care that the boy wouldn't find out, and this too did little to ease his mood. There were just too many risks, they couldn't afford to be reckless, no matter how Merlin would have loved to impress Arthur with some magic tricks again, sure that Arthur wouldn't be scared.

They arrived at the kitchen without meeting anyone. Merlin had guided the child toward hidden corridors, used by the servants only, and he made Arthur sit on a bench. He lit a few candles and put them at each edge of the table to light the unusually silent room, feeling better as Arthur looked curiously around him. It was full of pots, knives, plates of every size, glasses all around him, reflecting the light of the candles. Arthur tore his gaze off the big pork bodies hanging in a corner to look at Merlin, who was warming some milk.

"I like this place," he whispered, swaying his legs.

Merlin nodded and added sugar to the milk before pouring it in a bowl. He gave it to Arthur and sat before him.

"Me too," he confessed.

It certainly wasn't the trip Arthur had dreamed of, but it seemed to be good enough for now. Merlin crossed his arms on the table and just watched him, not feeling hungry himself. Arthur drank it all, disappearing behind the bowl for a brief moment. He finally put it down with a contented sigh and a white mustache above his mouth. Merlin automatically took a little towel near him and helped him to clean his face. He felt relaxed, as he often did when he was alone with the child and hadn't anything particular to do in the next hour or so. Since Arthur had stopped being violent with him, things were a lot more pleasant between the two of them.

Arthur looked at him, letting Merlin remove his milk moustache, with an uneasy expression on his face.

Merlin lowered his hand, done. "What is it?" he asked, feeling that something wasn't right.

"I..." Arthur tried. He interrupted himself, moved a little on his bench and gave the table a determined glance before he brought himself to ask, with much more seriousness than Merlin would have expected from him. "Are the guards looking for me?"

Something jumped in Merlin's belly, but his face remained blank. "Why would they be?" he replied finally, responding to the feeling that Arthur needed to be comforted.

"I have to stay inside all the time," Arthur went on, his gaze fixed on the table, "You don't want anybody to see me." He stayed silent for a moment and, as Merlin wasn't saying anything, he whispered "Is that why?"

Merlin shook his head, his voice sure and firm. "No. That's... quite complicated, what is going on now. But it has nothing to do with you." He smiled at Arthur, worried to see the uncertainty into his eyes. "Don't worry about it, okay? I just want to be very careful because things are unsettled now, but very, very soon you will be able to go outside. I promise."

"How soon?"

Merlin considered the question for a few seconds. "Tomorrow afternoon," he finally said, and smiled warmly when Arthur grinned as if it was an early Christmas.

He had ignored this for too long, busy with everything else. But Arthur _needed_ to get out. So to hell with the rest, he would wake early in the morning and find somewhere Arthur could go or whatever it would take to allow him to play outside without running the risk of being bothered by the soldiers.

Arthur left the bench and stretched, yawning. Merlin took the bowl and went to clean it "We better go back and sleep."

Arthur nodded. "You'll carry me?"

"You're not a little old for this?"

"But I'm tireeed..."

Merlin sighed. "Alright, but don't make a habit of it."

He put the bowl in its place and took Arthur under the arms to lift him. He placed him against his chest, the child not as light as he seemed to be, and Arthur immediately put his head down on his shoulder. Merlin pushed the kitchen's door open with his feet and checked that nobody was in sight.

Merlin hurried in the corridor, staying very close to the wall, taking advantage of the darkness to be as discrete as he could. The spell he used to improve his sight and hearing should have made him feel a little guilty (he knew Gaius wouldn't approve), but at least it was useful in avoiding the guards.

Arthur had already fallen asleep by the time they arrived, unseen and safe, to their chamber. Merlin knelt on the ground and put him on the bed, which he had left to Arthur. Arthur didn't protest, his eyelids cracking open for a second before he let himself go back to sleep. Merlin put the blanket on him, careful, and bent to kiss his temple.

"Good night," he whispered, and obtained a brave attempt of a reply in return, though it was only an indistinct mumble.

Merlin smiled and let himself fall on his own mattress, on the floor. A few seconds later he too was fast asleep.

**oOoOo**

To have enough time to find somewhere Arthur could safely go and take him there wasn't going to be an easy task.

Merlin woke as soon as the sun began to appear the next morning feeling as if he had slept no more than a few minutes. Arthur was still asleep (and not staring at him from his bed, which he sometimes did) and Merlin took great care to not wake him when he made his way outside. He changed his clothes in silence, splashed his face to wake himself, grabbed some food, and left. The courtyard was still quite empty and only Tim, the stable boy, asked him for help to move the horses out into the open field as he passed. There weren't many horses left, though, since many knights had been sent away in the search of Arthur and still weren't back.

"Where are the ponies?" Merlin inquired suddenly, remembering the conversation he had with Arthur just the previous night. He held one brown mare by its reins and followed Tim..

Tim frowned at the question. "What ponies?"

"Well - the ponies?" Merlin tried, suddenly not so sure that they had ponies at all "We have some, haven't we?" He was quite certain to have seen some at some point, though he couldn't clearly remember where exactly they had been.

The stable boy shrugged. "Some noblemen have them for their children, but the King only cares about full grown horses. The smallest we have here is this one," he showed him one young gray horse already grazing a few steps away, "he's three years old, we're still training him. He's beautiful, isn't he? Too bad he has such a bad temper." He shook his head, looking half genuinely upset, half pleased.

"He doesn't look that bad."

"He's a little bugger," Tim snorted with smile of genuine amusement which didn't match his words.

Merlin let the mare he was holding free of its reins and let it go into the open field.

"And the ponies," he insisted, "who's in charge of them?"

"The noblemen's servants," the stable boy eyed him as if he was nuts, "who else? They have their own private fields and stables, out of the castle, all the horses here belong to the King. Well, lot of them have been given to Knights, but that's not as if he couldn't requisition them or do whatever he wanted with them if he wanted to, mind you. The only horses you will see there that do not belong to the Crown belong to guests."

Merlin nodded and smiled. "Well, at least with all those Knights gone, you haven't many horses to worry about these days."

The stable boy snorted with irritation. "Yeah, well that ends tonight, said guests are expected and we don't even know how many stalls we're supposed to prepare for them."

"I thought no one had the right to move during the searches?"

"These ones can, obviously. We have instructions to be prepared to welcome _about_ ten horses. We will need your help with them if there's so much, by the way, so it would be helpful if you came back tomorrow morning too. Simon and I are alone for now, Oliver has been thrown in jail, and he won't be back until he's proven innocent."

Merlin felt a slight knot of guilt form in his belly, but just nodded. "Of course, no problem. I'll pass by and give you a hand."

"Thank you. Now come on, close the fence!"

"Merlin!"

Merlin turned his head to see Gwen waving to him, walking quickly to join them. Merlin mentally swore. As much as he loved Gwen, he couldn't honestly say he was delighted to see her these days, not with the looks she kept giving him and her insistence on making him _talk_ to her. As if there was something he could talk about in the first place.

"Merlin -Hello Tim!-, hey, how are you?"

"Fine, I was just helping with the horses."

"We're done, you can go," Tim informed him. "See you tomorrow, don't forget!"

Gwen smiled and grabbed him by the arm, obviously glad to be able to take him aside. "Goodbye Tim! Now," she eyed him when they were a few steps away from the field, and repeated, darkly serious "how are you?"

Merlin forbade himself from looking openly irritated. "I'm _fine_, Gwen! Really."

"Yes, of course, and so am I and so is Morgana. Merlin, you look terrible. Not that I mean – Not that you are – Oh, I'm sorry. I just mean... You look awful," she finished.

"Yeah, listen, it's just... I had many things to do these days. I don't have the time to sleep much, but it's okay. I mean, that's the same for everyone here, that's the same for you too, right?"

Gwen shook her head slightly, her voice a tone lower "No. I've been staying with Morgana only all week, she had me discharged from my other duties. She would do it for you too if you asked her, you know that."

"It's okay."

"Merlin."

Merlin felt uncomfortable under Gwen's gaze. He restrained himself from looking elsewhere and did his best to look casual.

"I'm fine," he sighed.

"Arthur has been missing for a week now," Gwen's voice seemed on the edge of failing her for an instant, "You can't be fine. I'm not, Morgana is not. Everybody is on their last nerves, the castle has never been in such a state. I'm sorry, but I can't help but wonder what is going on with you. I – I just don't get it!"

Merlin knew what she meant, but gave into the urge to pretend he didn't. "I'm doing my job, that's what I'm supposed to do. What did you expect from me?"

"I want you to be honest, at least with me, if not with Morgana. We're friends, for God's sake, that means something, doesn't it?"

That was a little melodramatic, Merlin thought, and quite irritating at this point. "Listen, Gwen, I'm very sorry but I'm not quite sure what you're angry with me _for_ right now."

"I'm not _angry_ with you, Merlin, I'm just-" She stopped her words, her cheeks flushed, looking so hopeless Merlin softened despite himself. "I just wanted... I mean... All the Knights are doing their best to find him, everything which can be done to help is _done_, and still they just haven't _found him_! And I don't know how you stand it, Merlin, but it's killing me! Morgana cries more than I have ever see her do, she barely eats, and every time a messenger comes back, we're here to hear what he says, and every time we hope, and every time there's still no news, and – And -"

She was doing her best to not cry. An awful feeling of guilt had made its way into Merlin's gut while she was talking, washing away all the irritation which had been there. He felt abominable. He had many things to do, yes, but as much as he worried about how he would fix Arthur, he knew that the prince was alive, safe, and even approximately happy. Gwen, Morgana, everyone except from Gaius and himself spent their days imagining him dead, or tortured. Merlin knew for sure he would have gone mad, would he have been in that same situation.

"And I know how much you like him," Gwen continued without looking at him anymore, "How much you two care for each others. But here you are, as if all of this was just – just... _irritating_, and... and I don't buy it, Merlin. You can pretend all you like with everyone else, but not me. I mean – It's just so – My God."

She sniffed miserably and cleaned her eyelids dry.

"I'm sorry..." was all he found to answer. She just nodded and he took her in her arms. She let herself relax into the embrace and returned the hug, sniffing discretely against his shoulder. "Look, I'm... I'm worried too, I really am. But I'm sure he's alive, and I'm sure he's okay. I feel it."

"How could you be so sure?"

"He's not that easy to get rid of, Gwen, I know him." He smiled to comfort her and felt her relax briefly against his chest, but soon the tension was back, and he had to close his eyes.

He was a complete hypocrite, but he just couldn't explain the situation to her. He had nothing but empty words to try to make it better and could do little to ease it for her.

"I hope you're right," she whispered eventually, "Camelot's not the same without him."

* * *

Reviews are cookies :D Until next time ;)


	10. My little pony

This chapter is not as long than 09 was, but I hope you will like it anyway!

**A baby at Camelot**

**#10 – My little pony**

It took him a fair amount of effort but, before the end of the afternoon, Merlin found a pony Arthur could use and a place behind the castle where they could go. Leaving his duties early hadn't been an easy task either but he had managed, so by six o' clock, they were both outside enjoying the late afternoon sunshine.

To say that Arthur was a bit excited would have been a lie. He _vibrated_ with energy! He literally bounced instead of walking, waving a branch he had picked up at some point in the air as if it was a sword. He was running _everywhere_ to look at _everything_ now Merlin had finally allowed him to explore. The forest's border seemed the most amazing place to him and, while Merlin was happy enough to follow the path of dirt, Arthur kept jumping from little rocks to little rocks and running through the leaves.

Getting out hadn't been easy and Merlin still wasn't sure if it was _really_ wise, but it was worth it, if only for Arthur's crazy enthusiasm at this very moment.

Merlin was aware of how very patient and well-behaved Arthur had been during the past week. Things could have been very much more complicated if it hadn't been for Arthur's will to make them as easy as he could manage. And for that, Merlin was very grateful and proud. He knew it required a lot of self-control for a child this age to act as he had. Arthur had been near perfect, and he felt relieved to fulfill his own promise and to finally do something to make the child happy.

To see Arthur like that was rewarding enough. Even more, it felt _great_.

"Okay kiddo," he said as they entered the stable, "There's no need to be afraid of the pony, okay? He's very nice, and I'll hold the reins. Sound good?"

"I can ride by myself!" Arthur retorted and went to caress the pony's nose.

"Right, I will be the one to decide that. Now come on, I'll show you how to saddle it, ready?"

"I can do it myself!" Arthur repeated, stubborn and a little irritated, "Watch me."

On those words he took the little blanket and put it on the pony back. Merlin watched him trying to pick the saddle up and didn't move when Arthur's face became a little red from the effort. It seemed to be heavier than he had first planned, but the child had obviously decided to do it all by himself. He puffed his cheeks up and, fumbling a little, climbed on a little box next to the pony, lifted the saddle and let it fall on the animal's back.

Merlin raised his eyebrows in surprise and Arthur nodded knowingly, proud of himself.

"See?"

"You know how to girth it too?" Merlin couldn't help but ask.

Arthur's face morphed into something more serious as he glanced to the webbing, obviously pondering if, he would know how to deal with it. "Yes," he nodded.

After five minutes of struggling it seemed that, no, he didn't know how to girth it. Arthur seemed genuinely upset by his failure and Merlin had to come to his side, smoothing his irritations with a smile and kind words to ease his mood again. He showed him how to make sure to not hurt the pony and still tighten it enough so the saddle wouldn't move.

"You're not riding?" Arthur asked suddenly when Merlin helped him to climb up on the pony.

"No, I will be walking at your side."

"But how will you manage when I gallop?"

The question seemed genuine and Arthur didn't blush when Merlin looked straight at him.

"You will not gallop," Merlin found it important to point out after a few seconds of silence.

Arthur pouted.

**oOoOo**

Their Chambers had never been so clean and organised. It was true that the arrival of a child caused them many problems (making sure Arthur was never alone at home was the worst, especially when both Merlin and Gaius were expected to be anywhere at anytime); but at least it had encouraged Merlin to do the cleaning seriously, thank God for small mercies. The cooking too, for that matter, was better than what they had accustomed themselves to.

Gaius lent in his chair, eyes closed. For the first time in what seemed to be an eternity, he had nothing to do other than relax. No potions to prepare, no patients to attend, no new games to make up for Arthur and no plot about how they should organize the day to plan with Merlin. To have the two boys outside was a relief. As much as Gaius loved them both, the whole situation was a bit trying and he needed a bit rest, if only for one hour. Not that he would complain if he could take more.

It was strange to have nothing to do. The past week had felt like a race and to sit still without anything to worry about was suddenly unnatural. His mind kept searching for something he would have forget, something he had to do before the boys went back. All the things which he thought about were done or not yet to do and, without any obvious reason, he felts unsatisfied.

Someone knocked. Gaius opened his eyes and jerked out of the chair suddenly, immediately looking for Arthur out of habit. They always hid him in Merlin's room when someone came to visit them, and so far it had worked. He relaxed as soon as he realized that Arthur _wasn't_ there and so didn't need to be hidden, called himself an idiot and sighed in relief. He was far too old for panic attacks like that.

"Enter!" he allowed, and Gwen's face popped up from the door.

"Hi," she waved shyly, "Is Merlin there?"

"No," Gaius replied, frowning when he saw her obvious disappointment. "But I can take a message for him, if you like?"

"No, no it's alright, thank you!" she dismissed. A bit, before she tried again. "You don't know where he is?"

"I'm afraid not, I'm sorry. Are you feeling alright?"

Gwen's eyes dropped as her cheeks blushed. Gaius waited for the answer, already knowing that obviously it wasn't the best time of her life.

"Yes," she finally said. "I talked to him this morning but I'm not sure it went very well so... I just wanted to see him. I haven't had many chances to since... you know... all of that begun, and... Well. I thought maybe it would be good to see him. I mean, not that he must want to see me, but I have Morgana and he has no-one. Except for you, he has you. Obviously, he's not alone, but... I just – We... miss him."

Gaius couldn't help but smile in bittersweet sympathy. Gwen had always been the caring sort.

"Would you like a cup of tea?" he offered gently, feeling that she, too, needed every chance she could take to relax.

She smiled, grateful for the gesture, but shook her head. "No, I should go back to Morgana. The witch-hunters have finally been seen by the advance men, they should be here within the hour. But thank you."

That, Gaius thought, was horrible news.

**oOoOo**

At first, Arthur did just as he was told, and Merlin thought that everything would go swimmingly. They went into the field just next to the stable, the pony was calm and obedient, and Arthur looked happy enough to make the animal walk along the fence. Merlin had tried to take the reins and guide them, but Arthur had whined so much that Merlin had finally given up and let him do as he pleased, while he would stay sitting on the gate.

That lasted around five minutes, before it was clear from Arthur's position on the horse and his quick glance toward him that he was _desperate_ to do more, but didn't dare to.

Not because he was afraid of the pony, no, but because he feared Merlin's reaction.

Merlin didn't know how he was supposed to react to Arthur obviously seeking of approval from him. It disturbed him more than they should probably do, but if it was in a good or in a bad way, he couldn't tell.

He didn't know much about Arthur's real childhood, but it didn't take a genius to guess that it had little in common with Merlin's own. Arthur had been a complete prat when they had first met, and it hadn't surprised Merlin at all, that was how he always had imagined royalty to behave. Growing up in Ealdor hadn't helped develop respect for the crown, not when no one cared about the villagers for anything other than taxes. Not when Will's father and so many others died for a faceless King. Without really putting much thought into it, Merlin had always pictured a Prince's childhood to be far too easy to be decent, allowing children to grow into selfish and stupid adults.

Now, watching Arthur riding, he wondered what of the Prince still remained in him, and what was just genuinely _Arthur_. Because that child was nothing like the imaginary little Prince Merlin had made up in his mind.

This one was patient and obedient, he ate everything they had given him without complaining (well, he grimaced sometimes, but he ate it anyway), played with the cheap toys they had been able to give him and often wanted to help them by cleaning the table or his toys without being asked to. Merlin didn't know much about children, but he knew that they had been lucky with the prince. A part of him was pleased and flattered by Arthur's obvious desire to be with him as much as possible. He liked, perhaps a bit too much, when it was bedtime and the boy wanted to be told a story; or that, every day when he came back home, there was a yelp of genuine joy to greet him. There were moments when Arthur wouldn't listen, of course, times when he was grumpy from tiredness or boredom. Merlin himself was often tired of all of this and wanted nothing more than to not have the child around. It couldn't be totally perfect. Still, Arthur was a good child and Merlin was proud of him.

The pony started to trot. Merlin frowned, his attention coming back on the field instantly. He nearly asked Arthur what he thought he was doing, but stopped himself. Arthur was doing well. His position on the pony was perfect and he obviously enjoyed it. Merlin hesitated, but decided to let it go. There was little chance that he would fall after all. Arthur was having fun for once and Merlin could let it go.

When the trot became a gallop, though, he protested. "Oi!"

The child didn't listen. He laughed instead and, much to Merlin's horror, made the pony jump over a little obstacle. But he didn't fall, the pony didn't suddenly start misbehaving, they both arrived safe on the ground, galloping again as if it was the most natural thing in the world.

Arthur was an excellent rider. Merlin wasn't sure if he should have expected it, since it was _Arthur_ they were talking about, or if he could allow himself to be stunned regardless.

He frowned a bit when Arthur's eyes met his, trying to use his eyes to say something like "I told you to not gallop, you should listen to me! Anyway, _okay_ for this once since you look to know what you're going, but don't push it too hard." The message seemed to get through, , and Arthur gave him a shy smile before bringing his attention back to the pony.

_That's right: keep concentrating_, Merlin thought, still nervous despite Arthur's skill.

Seriously, that child would be the death of him.

**oOoOo**

Erec stopped his horse in the middle of the village. People were gathering around, though remaining in a safe distance, and all took a step back when he approached. Only one man came to him, bowing with the awkwardness proper to the peasants. Erec gestured a boy to come closer and gave him the reins of his horse before he acknowledged the older man.

"You've called for us," he said. Unlike some others Knights, Erec had never needed to look threatening to be respected. He glowed with nobility and strength, something the dirtiness from days of riding could not diminish it.

The improvised squire took the horse away with him and the man bowed another time. "Sir, yes," he blurted, "You left clear indications to be warned if anything out of the usual was to happen, or if someone came, so we called for you as soon as we could." He glanced back to him and, after a short hesitation, admitted. "Though we believed there would be more of you. Several, I mean."

"I was the only one your messenger found. Now show me."

The peasant guided him between the village houses which, Erec couldn't help but notice, were a bit too close to one another. Should a fire start, it would cause more harm that could easily have been avoided. He didn't digress from his mission though, as the villager explained to him again what the note had already let him know.

"The two women arrived four days ago, Sir. We don't think they're any danger, but as we were told to report the arrival of any strangers, we thought it would be better to inform you."

The house he brought the knight to looked bigger than the others. Erec snorted at the dirty state of it, but made no comment. The villager stopped before a door, visibly hesitant to open it. "One of the women is pregnant and doesn't appear to be well. I really don't believe they are a danger and I would hate to waste your time, but… I'm really sure it's nothing and I would resent myself to waste your time, but..."

"You did what you had to," Erec reassured him. "You may leave."

The man did just that, and Erec took his sword out before he pushed the door open. There was nothing more inside than what the man had told him. The room was just big enough to contain the bed one person was lying in, but at least it was cleaner than the rest of the house and fresh air came from one window.

Another woman was seated at the bedside and turned to him as soon as she heard the door open. She stood at once and, after a very short hesitation, curtsied, dropping her eyes to the floor.

"Travel is forbidden, by order of the King," Erec's cool voice stated.

The woman flinched.

**oOoOo**

The air was getting a bit too cool and when the sky began to darken, Merlin decided that it would be enough for the day. Arthur had come back walking with his horse and grinned, tired but content.

"So," Merlin called him, "how was it?"

"Fantastic! We will do it again wont we? Yes? Please say yes!"

Merlin chuckled. "We will find a way to come back. Now come here, time to clean the pony and give him some time to rest."

Arthur nodded and went back to him, getting down off the pony without help.

"You're in need of a bath too."

Arthur grimaced. "I don't smell bad."

"You smell like the pony: bath."

"But not my hair, right?"

"The hair too." He smiled when Arthur pouted. "You've been sweating, believe me, you need it."

Arthur whined but didn't protest much. He took Merlin's hand on their way back home and, after several minutes of silent walking, asked "Next time, could we go have a ride in the forest? Together? And hunt rabbits with traps. Yes?"

"Maybe."

**oOoOo**

Morgana breathed out silently and tried to relax. It was taking the best of her to not sink into her chair, but Gwen's presence behind her back and years of practice helped her to keep a cool face and a straight appearance despite her state of nerves. Uther, too, was impatient, but just like her he hid it well enough. Only the rigidity of his hands betrayed him, but she hardly believed anyone was giving that attention, not even Gaius, standing behind him.

It was no more than fifteen minutes after the soldiers announced the witch-hunters arrival that the doors of the Council's chamber opened. Leon was the first person she saw. The Knight had been in charge of the castle's search and, because of it, hadn't been sent away like mostly of the others. He bowed to them before stepping aside. From behind him appeared three men.

Morgana took a sharp breath in and something twitched in her as she recognized a face she had only see in a dream before.

**OooOo**

"Aaaah! _Aaaaah_, _help_, Merlin!"

Merlin nearly teleported himself into the bedroom. "What? What's going on? Arthur are you alright?"

"_I've soap in my eyes! It hurts!_"

Merlin relaxed. Seriously.

* * *

I know there's no much happening in this chapter, but I couldn't resist some Merlin / child!Arthur interactions before the story went further. Also, congratulations to all the ones who remembered the witch-hunters. For those who didn't, their arrival was mentioned in chapter 4! Until next time ;)


	11. Bad News

Hello everyone! Okay, first I'm sorry for the time you had to wait for this chapter! Three months, that's a lot, but Real Life has been terribly busy for me since the last chapter! That, and the fact that I am a slow, slow writer, which doesn't help. Anyway, as some of you will have probably noticed, the plot of this fic has become quite more complicated than what I first intended, and no matter how hard I try, I can't bring myself to rush the events. I have no idea how many chapters are yet to come, but I think I can safely say we're at least half-way now, and this story is already about 40k! Quite a lot for such a cracky start! Anyway, since RL has calmed a bit for me, the next chapter shouldn't be as long as this one to come! No lies.

**A baby in Camelot**

**#11: Bad news.**

Taking care of a five-year old Arthur in the morning was, it appeared, a bit different than what Merlin had been accustomed to before. The first obvious difference was that he didn't wake Arthur anymore – more the other way around, actually.

"Mmrphh..." Merlin grumbled as he was gently poked in the cheekbone.

"Merlin," Arthur's voice whispered close to him, "you awake?"

No, he wasn't. He was still very asleep, and intended to be for the next twenty minutes at least, if Arthur would let him. Deciding not to open his eyes and to stay still, vaguely hoping that Arthur wouldn't disturb him again, Merlin tried to fall back to sleep.

He nearly did.

"_Merlin_," Arthur's voice called him again, "are you awake?"

Okay, the day had begun then.

Retrospectively, Gaius' absence should have alerted him to the fact that something wasn't right. Arthur started dancing and singing far too loudly for such an early time, he didn't pay it much attention, busy trying to calm the boy down, and failing mostly.

"Okay, time for breakfast now!"

"_Peter, Peter, Pumpkin Eater,  
Had a wife and couldn't keep her, -_"

"William!"

"_Put her in a pumpkin shell,  
And there he kept her, very well!_"

"Hang on, where does that come from?"

That certainly wasn't suitable for children in Merlin's opinion, but Arthur just laughed happily and kept bouncing around, repeating once more, if a bit breathless:

"_Peter, Peter – Pumpkin Eater,_

_Had a-_"

Someone knocked outside. Arthur fell silent and froze immediately. Merlin tensed too and shared a quick glance with the child before going to the door, waiting for Arthur to go back and hide in their chamber before opening.

Gwen was in the door frame, nervously fiddling with something in her hands.

"Gaius sent me to give you this," she said, handing it to him. It was a piece of paper folded in four.

Merlin opened it quickly. '_Stay inside until I come back_', Gaius had written, and Merlin took it for what it was: a very bad sign.

He checked the other side, just in case an explanation was hidden there, but of course not.

"What's going on?" he inquired, trying to not sound too worried.

"I'm not sure exactly. The witch hunters arrived last night, they have begun to check on the prisoners already."

Merlin's mouth fell open in shock and his eyes widened. The vision of Tim telling him they were waiting for new comers suddenly flashed back to him charged with meaning he had missed the previous day. _How could have he have forgotten the witch hunters?_

"Wh- Wait - _What_?" He spluttered.

Gwen nodded, her voice lowering so slightly. "I've seen some being released, but I don't really know what is happening there. It's a bit confusing, and – Morgana doesn't like it." She instinctively glanced up the corridor, making sure they were alone. "She's been avoiding them, the hunters. Not openly, of course, but she's hiding in her rooms"

She was wringing her hands, rubbing them too much, and Merlin had to grab them to make her stop. She pursed her lips slightly, took a deep breath and looked straight at him. "I don't like it, Merlin," she whispered, "I mean, obviously I want Arthur to be found, but _I don't like this_. Not that I mean – It's a good thing they're here to clear the innocents! But-"

"Gwen, calm down," he prompted her. "Come in."

He pulled her inside and closed the door behind her. She relaxed slightly, relieved to not be out in the open anymore, and sat on the bench, her hands still joined. He sat near her and took one of them again, squeezing it to encourage her, swallowing back his own anxiety. He hadn't been the best friend to her lately, but he intended to make up for it, if only by actually _listening_ to her. And he really had to know what was going on anyway.

"Tell me," he said, and she nodded again, looking away not meeting his gaze.

"They arrived yesterday, late in the evening. I tried to find you, I thought you would like to be there, but Gaius said you were out."

"That's okay, just tell me."

Gwen had started to wring her hands again, but this time Merlin didn't try to stop her. "Uther ordered them to check on the prisoners, to see if anyone who had been arrested was a sorcerer or not. Well, not all the hunters were sent on that case, most of them just... left the castle, to sneak around, I don't know. They're searching. Gaius was sent to the cells too, to take care of the people who proved innocent that had been mistreated. Morgana sent me to help him, but there were so many people! They... They were all so frightened, so weak, and yet they didn't complain at all when they were released, one by one, just because they were so overjoyed not to have been sentenced to death! This is crazy, this whole situation is insane! Uther had lost his mind and his people are suffering, and just because he can't catch the one sorcerer who attacked Arthur, _his people _have to pay the price!"

Merlin said nothing. His face remained unreadable, and she did her best to contain herself.

"Not that I mean... I... didn't want to say that, that way."

"It's okay," he whispered. She smiled sadly and squeezed his hand.

**oOoOo**

The physician took the woman's wrist. He remained still for a moment, checking her pulse, before kneeling to the floor to put his ear against her back.

"Breath in," he ordered, then, "Breath out."

She obeyed without protest. Her face was pale, nauseous, and the slight shiver of her body had done nothing but get worse since she had left her lying position. Thankfully, the physician seemed to be done. He gently pushed her shoulder and she let herself fall back to bed.

The sheets were wet, stinking with cold sweat, and the sheepskin cover wasn't much better. Still she pulled it back on her, regretting it almost instantly as she felt a hot flush rush in her.

"She shouldn't move until her fever breaks," the man said, rising to his feet again to face the Knight waiting at the door. He wasn't wearing the red cloak of Camelot anymore, having left it downstairs, but his sword was still hanging on his hip. "It will probably take a few days. Travelling in her condition is out of question, it could be very dangerous for the baby she carries."

"We don't have a few days!" Erec hissed arms crossed over his chest. He waited for the old man to come out and closed the door behind him. "It is of the greatest urgency that I return to Camelot without delay. Find a way to make her movable."

"Well it may be possible if she could lie in a cart, with frequent rests and if you take great care, but this won't allow you to be very quick, I'm afraid."

The Knight snorted, irritated, and gave the door an impatient glare. "Very well," he finally conceded. "I want you to remain at her bedside until I've decided what to do."

Erec gave him a coin, and the old man bowed. He was the only competent physician within seven villages, and as such was accustomed to receiving food or material as payment for his services. The coins, though worth little to the nobles, were an unexpected luxury which would help him greatly in the end of his life.

The Knight left him and went back downstairs. The other woman -Elsie- hadn't moved since he had left, seated in a chair in the middle of the room, but she rose as soon as she saw him. The house's owner, a tiny farmer, jumped to his feet, bowed and left after a few courtesies, knowing that his presence wasn't required. The Knight nodded to him in gratitude.

"Well?" Elsie asked once they were alone.

"She doesn't seem to be in immediate danger," he replied with little concern, "the physician will stay by her side."

The woman's shoulders sagged a bit with relief. "Thank you. Thank you, Sire, if you hadn't been there, I – I didn't know what to do, we were so lucky to cross your way!"

"Don't be too pleased." He approached her, and only then did she notice his hand on the pommel of his sword. The posture wasn't completely threatening, but she swallowed and quickly dropped her gaze anyway. He stood before her and, voice clear and firm, repeated what he had already said. "Travel is forbidden by the King, you knew that."

"... Yes, Sire."

"Yet, despite the King's clear order, you took to the road."

"Sire, I can assure you that I... I didn't mean to go against His Majesty's will! I have nothing but the greatest respect for our King and never would I have done anything to displease him if – if..." she spluttered helplessly. "If I had... any choice in the matter."

He let a sigh of exasperation out and sat in front of her, fixing her with a severe look. She blinked. "The whole army of Camelot is doing its best to find our Prince back, certainly you know it?" he asked impatiently.

"Yes, Sire," she confessed.

"If these orders have been given, it's for a reason!" She said nothing in return. "I will take you with me to Camelot. That's where you were heading, wasn't it?"

The colour drained from her face, and now he was watching her closely, with more suspicion than he had previously felt.

"_Wasn't it?_" he insisted.

"Yes it was, Sire," she agreed quietly.

"Why?"

She looked stressed, glancing desperately aside to avoid his gaze. The pallor of her skin combined with her travel stained clothes was giving her the look of a beggar. She seemed fragile and terrified, facing this strong, resolute man.

He didn't buy it for a second.

The metallic sound of his sword being pulled from his scabbard resonated in the room, and soon the blade was against her throat.

"Why were you traveling?" he asked, once more, and it was clear in his voice that he would accept nothing but a very good answer.

"I-" she darted her gaze to the weapon, then to him, and the words left her mouth, almost by themselves "I saw what happened to the Prince. I witnessed it all; I was heading to Camelot to report it all to the King."

Erec looked at her in shock. Then, slowly, his sword lowered.

They had found their witness.

**oOoOo**

Merlin closed the door behind Gwen and went to sit back on the bench. He covered his eyes, trying for a moment to fight back the wave of stress which had hit him; and finally let them drop, breathing out slowly.

It was bad.

It was really, really bad.

There were a dozen of witch hunters in the castle at that very moment. Most of them would certainly search the area outside the castle, but some would have to stay within the castle bounds. Merlin wouldn't be able to avoid them forever; no one could. His mind avoided the idea of the prisoners, knowing he couldn't do anything about that, he just had to hope they would all get better. The anxiety about getting caught was making him nauseous and selfish. Attempting to overlook the trouble he was in and focusing on finding a solution was proving difficult, no matter how hard he tried he just couldn't think of one. How on earth was he going to sort _that_ out? And how would Elsie and her sister find a way to come to the castle _now_? The whole situation was just getting worse, and the longer it lasted, the more Merlin felt his hopes of everything ending up well and without consequences vanish.

He had managed to solve so many impossible problems before: he would find a way to solve this as well. He just had to.

A door creaked, and Merlin was immediately reminded of Arthur's presence. He blinked quickly and did his best to look normal, vaguely hoping his tension wasn't showing as he looked at the boy.

Arthur was standing there, half-hidden by the door, face blank. They stared at each other for a moment, before Merlin got up.

"You can come out," he said. "Come on, let finish breakfast."

"What did she want?" Arthur asked without moving.

"Nothing, just to... tell me something. Here, come on."

"What did she say?" Arthur insisted, and really, it wasn't the moment for that.

"Nothing of your concern, it's just adult talk. Now do you want breakfast or not?"

Arthur didn't answer. He kept staring at him, visibly upset, which was grating on Merlin's nerves. And Merlin's nerves clearly didn't need that right now.

"Will?" he insisted, sounding impatient even to his own ears.

The child scowled but he finally stepped down to sit back at the table, reluctant. Merlin put his breakfast in front of him, a bit briskly, and left Arthur to it.

He waited a bit, unsure of what to do, before coming back to the cupboard, randomly taking one of Elsie's books to leaf through it. He had long since given up finding a solution there, but right now he had no better plan, these books looked like his only hope. Something had to be in there, he couldn't have done all of this for nothing!

He would find a way, the only thing he needed to do was to keep a cool head -

"_Peter, Peter, Pumpkin Eater-"_

"Will!" Merlin warned him without turning away from his reading.

Arthur fell back quiet, and Merlin sat on Gaius' chair, trying to concentrate. He finally closed the book, upset at not directly find a solution in there, and mused for a moment. Okay, there were several things to take care of: First, avoid the witch hunters. Second, find a way to allow Elsie and her sister to come into the castle, then into the Dragon's cave, without being noticed. Third, get Arthur back to normal. .

He was so doomed.

"_Had a wife and couldn't keep her, -_"

"I told you to stop with the song!" Merlin erupted irritably, turning back to Arthur.

The child wasn't looking at him, eyes filling with restrained tears and fiercely fixed on his plate. He was holding his spoon tightly in his hand, having not touched his breakfast since Merlin had given it to him. Merlin felt his impatience melt, replaced by a horrible feeling of guilt. He swallowed it back, and for a very uncomfortable moment, neither of them moved nor spoke.

Then, at the same time, "Will..."

"I'm not hungry anymore."

Arthur abandoned the table and headed to his room without looking back, chin trembling, but held high and proud. He slammed the door behind him, hard.

Merlin closed his eyes and took a deep breath, slowly. He didn't mean to yell, truly, he didn't. He had no idea how to handle this, how to handle Arthur. It was taking a lot from him to just keep faith and not give up already, but he didn't think he could do it all by himself anymore.

And that thought was scary. Very, very scary.

He needed help, and these damn books were useless, they were good for nothing!

Merlin threw the one he had been reading at the other side of the room before he had the time to restrain himself. The book smashed the wall with a loud noise and fell back on the table, making a mess of Gaius' potions; which didn't bring Merlin any comfort.

Staying still and silent, Merlin was slowly feeling ridiculous. He got up and went to clean up the mess he had created, swallowing back the tension. It was no time to panic, he repeated to himself.

Arthur did not answer when he knocked, but it wasn't that surprising. Merlin came in anyway. Arthur was sitting on his bed, back against the wall, stubbornly staring at the toy he was playing with. His cheeks were wet and his eyes red. Merlin sat near him, and Arthur sniffled.

"Will..."

He didn't answer, sucking his lower lip into his mouth, and his eyes watered even more. Merlin had rarely felt that sorry in his life.

"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have yelled. I was... just upset, because of what Gwen told me. It wasn't because of you. I'm sorry, okay?"

Arthur cleaned his cheeks dry with the back of his hand. He took a few bitter breaths in, but immediately dropped his toy and hugged back when Merlin took him in his arms. His grip was firm, desperate, and it wasn't long before he could not hold in his sobs any longer. Merlin rubbed his back and hair softly, hushing him with quiet words of reassurance and apologies. The crying wasn't ending, though, even after Merlin's repeated confirmations that everything was okay.

"Hey, what's the matter?" he asked finally.

Arthur sniffled some more, trying hard to regain some control, but his voice was still trembling as he ranted into Merlin's shoulder. "You're never telling me what's happening! I don't want to stay here anymore – hiding in the room – and I don't like it, and – It's not- not _fair_. You're upset, and people are after you, and I don't want people to take you away, and I don't want you to yell at me either. But you just tell me nothing, and I – I don't know what I - _should do_! I really don't know!"

He was crying openly now, unable to say another word and Merlin pressed him tighter against his chest. He rocked him for a long time, at a loss for what to do or say, having never realized that Arthur worried and understood so much.

"Shhh, it's okay. There's nothing you need to do. It's okay, really," he promised, "Everything's okay, don't worry, don't cry."

"_I don't know what to do!_" Arthur repeated desperately, grabbing him tightly, trying to calm down again. Merlin rocked him until he relaxed totally, having cried himself to sleep into his arms.

Merlin gently put him back to bed and, with great care, did his best to dry Arthur's face without waking him up. He stayed a moment at his bedside, and then left, silently closing the door behind him. He took back the first book he had read, the one Elsie had given him and opened it to the potion he had already used on Arthur, the one Elsie had showed him and he hadn't wanted to use again.

He had only that. Never mind the time he had spent reading all the other books, this seemed to be the only the only solution he could find. If it hadn't worked perfectly the first time, then it would be his job to make it work now.

Even if he was getting caught, Arthur had to come back to the throne. The rest, he would find a way to deal with.

**oOoOo**

It was late afternoon.

Leon removed his cloak and let it fall unceremoniously on the floor, soon joined by his sword belt and his chain mail, far more loudly. He kicked his boots away without much grace and, with a groan on relief; he let himself fall into bed. His hands covered his face and he welcomed the sudden obscurity for a few seconds, pretending it was relaxing.

His back was sore and for a moment he thought about calling a maid to massage it: it would certainly do him some good. He decided against it quickly, though, not being in a mood to allow such fantasies. A bath would do, he hadn't bathed in days, and he would stink soon if he didn't already.

The daylight had started to fade and Leon's whole bedroom was colored in a reddish glow as he opened his eyes again. He remained there, lying, unmoving, his mind restless.

Most of the hunters had been sent around by the King and the searches, already organized neatly, had become even more efficient. He was in first line to assist with the arrests, the shakedowns which were leaving whole houses turned upside down. He felt no pride in doing this, but hope of finding something leading to the Prince was stronger than any feeling of shame. He knew it was the same for all the other Knights.

Now the dungeons were cleared up by the hunters. Every innocent was sent back to their families, and the relief of freedom and safety was so strong for them that none of them complained of the bad treatment they had received. The kingdom had fallen into feverish madness, but no soul would dare to protest, not when a single wrong word could lead you into cell, or worse, into personal interview with a torturer.

Leon couldn't honestly tell if he was glad or worried about the hunters' arrival. They were meant to help them a great deal to detect any form of magic, but what would happen if they didn't? What would they do if none of those they had under arrest appeared to be a sorcerer? If they were nothing but innocent, scared people, having nothing to do with Arthur's disappearance?

Leon got up, rejecting that train of thoughts. He shouldn't think about it. No matter the time it would take them, they would find Arthur, even if it was the last thing they should do in their life.

He took a shirt, grabbed his sword back and, with a movement of sheer habit, tied it around his hips thoughtlessly. He closed the door behind him with a soft noise, heading for the bathing room.

Had he stayed a moment longer, he wouldn't have missed the gray pigeon bursting into his window and landing on his favorite chair's back, a tiny paper folded around its leg.

**oOoOo**

It was late afternoon.

Arthur was still lying in his bed, awake but motionless, except for a slow blinking. By the door, he could hear Merlin moving, searching beyond Gaius' potions, doing things he never told Arthur about.

Arthur was tired.

The room was all red, now, which was kind of nice, except that the walls were too close and the room was too small. Merlin's mattress was lying on the floor and it was taking the entire space, which had never been meant for two people to begin with.

Arthur sniffed and, after a long moment of hesitation, found the will to get up. He darted to the door, half-wanting to get out, half-wanting to avoid Merlin a bit longer. He had exiled himself in his room all day, except for lunch. He was not sure how Merlin would react after his tantrum, not sure how things truly were between the two of them, and not sure he really wanted to find out. Maybe if he waited for Gaius to come back, things would be easier. But Gaius didn't seem to be in a hurry to come back.

He didn't move at all, his gaze lost, when a bird suddenly landed on the windowsill. Arthur glanced at it, and his mouth fell in a perfect 'o' as the animal bounced. It wasn't a real bird. It seemed to be made of blue smoke, and didn't make a noise.

Arthur hesitated, wanting to call Merlin, but not daring to. The bird flied and landed on his shoulder (which was both wonderful and terrifying) to drop a little paper on his legs. Arthur hesitated, staring dumbly at it. The bird chirped with impatience, and Arthur hurried to take the note and unfold it.

The writing was untidy and rushed, messed with black stains of ink. '_The Knight Erec has found us_,' it said, '_we're heading back to Camelot tomorrow to report what I saw to the King. Run and hide_.'

And it disappeared between his hands.

* * *

See you next time! And check my profile, there's a new illustration for this chapter ;)


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